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

Tea Base shuts doors, but spirit of basement art space lives on

Toronto art space Tea Base launched early last year with a mandate to engage the local community and bridge the divide between older and younger generations. It closed its doors last month, but collective members are already looking at what comes next.

Morgan Sharp

November 11th 2020

Giving youth the advocacy tools to help end the AIDS epidemic

The NoTimeToWait conference aims to get young people talking about HIV and AIDS to raise awareness of the risks today, fight stigma and advocate for equity.

Morgan Sharp

November 10th 2020

Why young people should care about Ontario’s 2020 budget

The province’s spending plan for the next three years has a focus on getting young people into the trades as Progressive Conservatives unveil their plan to “protect, support, recover” from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morgan Sharp

November 5th 2020

Long Winter ahead will be digital for Toronto DIY youth scene

The Toronto DIY scene’s Long Winter choose-your-own-adventure can no longer pack young people together in sweaty mosh pits or have them sit cross-legged in an attic listening to experimental electronica, throwing the arts series’ ninth year into uncharted territory.

Morgan Sharp

November 5th 2020

U of T hip-hop conference highlights virtual storytelling, activism

Hip-hop culture has much to add to the racial justice conversation taking place in the streets and on basketball courts across the United States and even in Canada, says the curator of a University of Toronto education series on the movement.

Morgan Sharp

November 4th 2020

Pandemic has meant boom, not bust, for this university admissions company

The COVID-19 pandemic massively disrupted higher education, with online classes and student life replacing throngs of young people packing into lecture halls and dorm residences. Still, Kira Talent, which helps schools choose who to invite into their faculties, has stayed busy.

Morgan Sharp

November 3rd 2020

Canada's immigration targets belie COVID-related shortfall, critics say

Critics say the federal government’s latest three-year target for permanent immigration only makes up for lost COVID-19 volumes and fails to solve big problems facing current international students, recent graduates and other temporary residents.

Morgan Sharp

November 2nd 2020

Toronto youth, student teachers help adults deal with COVID reality

Young people in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood have been teaching their elders as part of the Youth Empowering Parents program for a decade now, but the pandemic has forced a few changes.

Morgan Sharp

October 30th 2020

Federal judge tosses youth climate case against Ottawa

The 15 young Canadians seeking to hold the federal government to account for climate action failings will not get the chance to do so in a courtroom, a federal justice said on Tuesday.

Morgan Sharp

October 27th 2020

Fixing Canada's 'exploitative' immigration system

Thousands of young people who came to Canada as post-secondary students face the threat of expulsion by the end of the year unless Ottawa loosens rules related to postgraduate work, which has dried up as COVID-19 and the bureaucratic response to it drag on.

Morgan Sharp

October 27th 2020

Toronto Youth Cabinet leader warns Doug Ford's education minister of 'second pandemic'

Toronto’s youth cabinet and a string of education and human rights groups are reupping demands for rigorous provincial action to root out systemic racism in schools, wary of the issue getting pushed aside amid broader pandemic-related challenges.

Morgan Sharp

October 27th 2020

As pandemic weighs on Ontario’s LGBTQ+ youth, helpline adjusts

At an undisclosed location in downtown Toronto, young queer volunteers used to answer calls from peers across the province. With its doors shuttered since COVID-19 hit, Youth Line’s chat service has gone remote, and it is now taking on helpers from outside the city.

Morgan Sharp

October 22nd 2020

Virtual jobs conference aims to help youth looking for work in uncertain times

First Work’s virtual jobs conference next week aims to provide the tools to help marginalized youth navigate the already perilous path to finding meaningful work, a task upended by COVID-19.

Morgan Sharp

October 21st 2020

Moss Park residents hear from NDP candidate, new Green leader hoping to fill Morneau's seat

The community group that hosted Monday’s virtual debate wanted to hear about local concerns such as homelessness, housing, school, jobs and support for immigration and immigrants. Of the four major parties, only the Greens' new Leader Annamie Paul and NDP candidate Brian Chang showed up.

Morgan Sharp

October 20th 2020

Online platform aims to help high schoolers make uni leap during pandemic

Raasil Khan wants to help high schoolers facing the daunting process of applying to university during a global health emergency. He’s hoping institutions can help him connect students with the Aroha platform he’s building.

Morgan Sharp

October 19th 2020