Katimavik

The Katimavik National Experience consists of groups of 11 youths, aged 17 to 25, who come from across Canada. They travel together to two different places in Canada for a period of five to six months. During the 2018-19 program year, Katimavik had 198 participants spread across six communities: Nanaimo, BC; Calgary, AB; Winnipeg, MB; Sudbury, ON; Quebec City, QC; and Moncton, NB. Each youth volunteers for at least 30 hours per week and completes a learning program that focuses on Truth and Reconciliation, Canada's official languages, eco-stewardship, leadership, cultural diversity, and healthy living. Each year, over 500 community non-profit organizations are assisted by Katimavik Participants doing full-time work for them. Katimavik has had volunteer projects in all 10 Canadian provinces and three territories. Katimavik has signed partnerships with a number of post-secondary institutions in Canada, including Vancouver Island University, Capilano University, Quebec's public community colleges (CEGEP), Trent University, and George Brown College in order for Katimavik participants to receive post-secondary credit for their experiences.

Katimavik has its national headquarters in Montréal, Quebec.

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Canada

Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area with the world's longest coastline. Its southern and western border with the United States is the world's longest binational land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Official language

Official language

An official language is a language having certain rights to be used in defined situations. These rights can be created in written form or by historic usage.

Cultural diversity

Cultural diversity

Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cultures respect each other's differences. It is often used to mention the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. It refers to the inclusion of different cultural perspectives in an organization or society.

Vancouver Island University

Vancouver Island University

Vancouver Island University is a Canadian public university serving Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia. Malaspina College began in 1969 and it has grown into a university which plays an important role in the educational, cultural, and economic life of the region. The main campus is located in Nanaimo; there are regional campuses in Duncan and Powell River as well as a centre in Parksville.

Capilano University

Capilano University

Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshine Coast. The university is named after Chief Joe Capilano Sa7plek (Sahp-luk) who was the leader of the Squamish people (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) from 1895 to 1910.

CEGEP

CEGEP

A CEGEP, also written cégep, CÉGEP and cegep, is a publicly funded college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, it originates from the French acronym for Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, sometimes known in English as a "General and Vocational College"—it is now considered a word in itself.

George Brown College

George Brown College

The George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto. Like many other colleges in Ontario, George Brown College was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and opened the next year.

Katimavik was started by Pierre Trudeau's government and then Senator Jacques Hébert as well as then Minister of National Defence Barney Danson. Legally, it was incorporated as OPCAN, a non-profit corporation created by letters patent dated January 26, 1977 pursuant to Part II of the Canada Corporations Act. Much of Katimavik's structure was taken from Canadian Cadet Organizations and the defunct Company of Young Canadians.

In the 1980s Katimavik offered a military option, an opportunity to spend three months on an Army or Navy base learning fundamental skills such as first aid and map reading, as well as basic military skills, such as drills and rifle handling.

The overall program grew quickly in its initial years to its peak in 1985–86, when it engaged over 5,000 Participants. The program was cancelled that year by Brian Mulroney's new government.

The cancellation prompted founder Jacques Hébert to undertake on a 21-day hunger strike in protest, to no avail. He subsequently worked with Quebec region director Claude Raiche to continue Katimavik as an outdoor recreation training centre at Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot.

It continued in this form until 1994 when Youth Service Canada helped Katimavik to form a pilot program involving six projects and 66 participants. The next year, the Government of Canada's Department of Heritage provided the program with ongoing funding and the number of projects and youth tripled. The program then continued to grow; during the 2005-2006 program year there were 1,155 participants in 105 communities across Canada. In 2008, Katimavik was granted consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council, which has allowed Katimavik to liaise with similar organizations in other countries and represent Canada internationally.

In 2006, Katimavik was told by the government that its funding was under review and that it was to cease recruitment activities. A letter-writing campaign was organized by Katimavik and funding levels were maintained until October 2010 when the government announced three-year funding in the sum of $15 million per year, a reduction from its previous funding levels ($19.7 million).

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Jacques Hébert (Canadian politician)

Jacques Hébert (Canadian politician)

Jacques Hébert, was a Canadian author, journalist, publisher, Senator and world traveller who visited more than 130 countries.

Minister of National Defence (Canada)

Minister of National Defence (Canada)

The minister of national defence is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the management and direction of all matters relating to the national defence of Canada.

Barney Danson

Barney Danson

Barnett Jerome "Barney" Danson, was a Canadian politician and Cabinet minister.

Letters patent

Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title or status to a person or corporation. Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for granting city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, as well as appointing a Royal Commission. In the United Kingdom, they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm.

Canada Business Corporations Act

Canada Business Corporations Act

The Canada Business Corporations Act is an act of the Parliament of Canada regulating Canadian business corporations. Corporations in Canada may be incorporated federally, under the CBCA, or provincially under a similar provincial law.

Canadian Cadet Organizations

Canadian Cadet Organizations

The Canadian Cadet Organizations, marketed under the name of Cadets Canada, are a youth program known as the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, Royal Canadian Army Cadets, and Royal Canadian Air Cadets. The program is sponsored by the Canadian Armed Forces and funded through the Department of National Defence (DND), with additional support from the civilian Navy League, the Army Cadet League and the Air Cadet League, as well as local community sponsors that include service organizations and parent sponsoring groups supervised by the Leagues.

Company of Young Canadians

Company of Young Canadians

The Company of Young Canadians (CYC) was a short-lived Canadian youth program sponsored by the Canadian federal government, which existed from 1966 to 1977. It was designed to be run autonomously without government direction.

Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.

Hunger strike

Hunger strike

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants voluntarily fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not solid food. The striker will often take vitamins and electrolytes to ensure that sufficient nutrients are maintained.

Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot

Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot

Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot is the largest of four municipalities located on Île Perrot, west of the island of Montreal, Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2016 Census was 10,654. It hosts the island's first church built in 1740 originally situated at Pointe-du-Moulin which was reconstituted as the Chapelle du Souvenir in 1953 beside the church of Sainte-Jeanne-de-Chantal across from the town hall.

Government of Canada

Government of Canada

The government of Canada is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown assumes distinct roles: the executive, as the Crown-in-Council; the legislative, as the Crown-in-Parliament; and the judicial, as the Crown-on-the-Bench. Three institutions—the Privy Council, the Parliament, and the judiciary, respectively—exercise the powers of the Crown.

Department of Canadian Heritage

Department of Canadian Heritage

The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage, is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity and values, cultural development, and heritage."

Katimavik is currently led by John-Frederick Cameron, an experienced executive in the non-profit and charitable sectors. Cameron was appointed to the position in November 2019. His stated objectives are to increase Katimavik's visibility, broaden and improve the National Experience, and diversify the organization's programming and funding sources.

Participants volunteer at least 30 hours a week and engage in workshops and activities with their fellow group members and project leader. Three groups in close communities form a "cluster" that may often meet up together for certain activities. Each cluster of four projects is monitored by a project coordinator.

During the program, participants can expect to abide by certain standards of behaviour which fall into four main categories: participation, health and safety, and respect. Participants are monitored by their project leader, who resides in-house and supports the project. Project leaders can issue verbal warnings, commitments to improve, final warnings, and expulsions if the behavioural standards are not followed.

Participants receive four letters of appraisal (2 from the project leaders, and 2 from work supervisors), as well as a certificate of completion upon finishing the program.

While participants are in the program, they will spend a week of their time in each community living with a "host family". This is a family living in the community that has agreed to take on a participant (or two). This allows the participant to take some time off from group life, while living with members of the community, and learning what it's like to be a local.

Each group, every three months, is given budgets of varying amounts for groceries, activities, and transportation. This money is spent in ways that correspond to program's learning objectives. The goal of the program's educational component is to build the capacities of participants in the following key areas:

• Interact with others in a variety of situations
• Adopt an open attitude towards the diversity of social and multicultural realities
• Communicate in both official languages
• Engage in diverse work experiences
•  Apply habits that favour a healthy lifestyle
•  Develop an integrated vision of environmental protection and sustainable development
• Engage as a citizen
• Prepare to integrate, as a citizen, into the job market, school or other life event

In the 2012 Canadian federal budget, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that the program would be eliminated due to its comparatively high per-person cost of the program when compared to other government youth initiatives.

In 2018, Katimavik was relaunched through the newly created Canada Service Corps, a youth service initiative launched by the federal government with the aim of engaging youth in community service across the country.