Next Gen Insider

Morgan Sharp reports from Toronto on the city's young population and their civic engagement and impact on the local institutions that make democracy function.

Canada's National Observer is a proud participant of the Local Journalism Initiative, which supports the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.

531 Articles

Ontario colleges avoid strike as labour dispute heads to arbitration

Students at colleges across Ontario attended classes as usual on Friday after a looming strike by professors and other faculty was averted by a move to binding arbitration.

Morgan Sharp

March 18th 2022

Future Majority aims to amplify youth voices in Ontario vote

The youth advocacy group is gearing up to engage young Ontario voters on the issues that matter to them and hopefully get politicians to pay attention in the run-up to a summer provincial election.

Morgan Sharp

March 17th 2022

Reopenings spur entry-level jobs rebound in February

A broad rebound in the job market scooped up young workers across Canada in February as provinces lifting COVID-19 restrictions meant more employment in reopened bars, restaurants, gyms and other indoor places.

Morgan Sharp

March 11th 2022

Toronto school board goes along with Ontario mask rule loosening, asks for time

The Toronto District School Board, Canada’s largest, will go along with the Ford government’s plan to make wearing a mask a personal choice in Ontario schools, but asked to delay dropping the COVID-19 classroom safety measure on return from March break.

Morgan Sharp

March 11th 2022

Just a day in the lab seeking COVID in sewage

Recent graduates in microbiology and other disciplines are helping Toronto keep track of trends in COVID-19 infections by running daily lab tests on sewage samples from across the city.

Morgan Sharp

March 11th 2022

Ukrainian-Canadian students send love and supplies to their homeland

From cultural events to procuring bulletproof vests and sending supplies, Russia's attacks on Ukraine have upended the lives of Ukrainian-Canadian students.

Matteo Cimellaro

March 10th 2022

Meet the sewage sleuths tracking Toronto’s COVID-19 levels

Students and researchers at two Toronto universities are collecting and testing samples of the city's wastewater for COVID-19, creating insight the city has started making public since individual testing was largely discarded.

Morgan Sharp

March 9th 2022

Ontario revises science curriculum, destreams Grade 9

The Ontario government is combining applied and advanced science classes in Grade 9 and introducing a revised science curriculum across elementary grades that emphasizes hands-on learning, the engineering design process, coding and other emerging technology.

Morgan Sharp

March 8th 2022

Report urges researchers to study cannabis and mental health in Black communities

A long history of targeted drug law enforcement has left some in Canada’s Black communities wary of cannabis despite it now being legal, and it's a slow process to undo that trauma-informed stigma.

Morgan Sharp

March 7th 2022

Rimmy Jhajj carries a childhood of civic engagement with her on the campaign trail

After years of literally following the footsteps of her civically engaged parents, Rimmy Jhajj is the Liberal candidate for Brampton West in Ontario's upcoming election.

Matteo Cimellaro

March 4th 2022

Public art returns to Toronto with ArtworxTO 2.0

Since Toronto’s mayor last opened the city’s proclaimed Year of Public Art, the public sphere has largely been off-limits, a mix of COVID-19 precautions and icy weather reducing communal contact.

Morgan Sharp

March 3rd 2022

‘The situation is brutal’: Toronto grad describes life in Ukraine during Russian invasion

Oleksiy Sorokin was studying political science and history in Toronto when his Ukrainian homeland was last on the world stage back in 2014. The 26-year-old now finds himself reporting from Kyiv as Russian forces attack the capital and the country.

Morgan Sharp

March 2nd 2022

Eladia Smoke builds Indigenous principles into Centennial College’s mass-timber expansion

Indigenous architect Eladia Smoke explains the Native principles and climate benefits underpinning Centennial College’s mass-timber building, which is currently under construction.

Morgan Sharp

February 28th 2022

Black educators work to fill in classroom narratives

The Toronto educators behind the See Us Learn Us seminars are helping teachers and school administrators across Canada work out how to include more of the Black Canadian experience in their curricula.

Morgan Sharp

February 25th 2022

After watching racialized students bear the brunt of the pandemic, Farheen Alim jumps into politics

Farheen Alim is running for the Ontario New Democrats after experiencing the adverse effects of government austerity on herself and her students.

Matteo Cimellaro

February 24th 2022