Climate Leadership and Advocacy Program

Apply for EcoSchools Canada’s new Climate Leadership and Advocacy Program!

Calling all high school students! EcoSchools Canada is looking for highly motivated high school students who care deeply about turning the tide on climate change in their communities. Apply now to be part of our new Climate Leadership and Advocacy Program, launching in the 2025-26 school year.

Successful applicants will receive:

  • 2 days (1 night) of in-person training including transportation, meals and accommodation on August 22-23, 2025.
  • Year-long mentorship program provided by EcoSchools Canada staff
  • Leadership, teamwork, planning, advocacy and public speaking skills
  • Suite of tools and resources to support advocacy work
  • $500 budget per school board to support advocacy activities
  • Opportunity to make new friends who care about the climate and make a lasting impact in your school community!
To apply, please complete the following form. Successful applicants will be notified by email.
Apply here

What is a Climate Action Plan?

A Climate Action Plan is a strategic policy document that details how an organization will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change. Climate action planning is well established and has been proven to be effective in governments, industry and school boards as well. The Toronto District School Board and SD38 (Richmond, BC) have achieved 45.9% and 16.7% in GHG reductions, respectively, since implementing their plans. Without a plan, a Board will be far less likely to meet ambitious sustainability targets however only a small handful of Boards have approved plans in Canada. Here are some great examples of climate action plans across North America:

Program Details

Through this program, students will:

  • Learn: Learn about climate change, why it is important for school boards and opportunities for action.
  • Collaborate: Work in partnership with your peers and community members.
  • Research: Use credible qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect information about climate action planning, how your Board is currently addressing this issue, identify current barriers and root causes and possible solutions within your Board.
  • Discuss: Engage your team, your community, and local stakeholders in evidence-based discussion as a means to contextualize the information and deepen understanding.
  • Advocate: Develop action strategies appropriate for addressing the root cause of the problem and, with the support of EcoSchools and community allies, advocate for those solutions to people in positions of power.

Eligible School Boards

The Climate Leadership and Advocacy Program is currently recruiting students from the following school boards in Ontario:

  • Halton District School Board

  • Peel District School Board

  • Toronto Catholic District School Board

  • Simcoe County District School Board

  • Waterloo Region District School Board

These boards have been selected as we believe there is a great opportunity to advance Climate Action Planning amongst school board leadership at these boards. If your school board is not listed above but would like to participate, please email us at programs@ecoschools.ca.

Students have an incredibly powerful voice, and school board leaders want to hear from students like you!