Canada’s Partner in Youth-Driven Development™

The Art of Teamwork

For more than 25 years, we have worked in partnership with the education, sport, community development and social innovation sectors to realize this vision utilizing our innovative Youth-Driven Development™ framework.

Our next 25 years will be defined by the strength of our partnerships, our collective innovation, and our unwavering commitment to moving the needle on our intended social outcomes.

Explore our history of programs and partnerships below!

ESTEEM Team Athlete Role Model Program

1994 – Current

The ESTEEM Team is a national, not-for-profit program of Motivate Canada that brings Olympic, Paralympic and National caliber athletes to schools in Canada to inspire and activate young people to set and achieve their goals.

Our athletes are not only accomplished in their sport, but they are professionally trained public speakers. Through their life stories, ESTEEM Team athletes effectively speak, entertain and engage students in grades 4-12.

Youth Reached to date: 1,500,000 and counting!

Presentations to date: 7500+

Athletes Trained: 150

Partners: Sport Canada, Interac, Webber Naturals, COC/CPC Game Plan

GEN7 Indigenous Youth Role Model Program

2005 – Current

In 2004, after ten years of running the ESTEEM Team program, it became clear that one group of youth was not being adequately reached: those of Indigenous descent.

Drawing from the expertise gained through the Esteem Team, and in partnership with the Aboriginal Sport Circle, GEN7 was developed in 2005 as a role model program specifically designed for Indigenous youth and the unique challenges they face.

GEN7 encourages Indigenous youth to live, and encourage others to live, an active and healthy lifestyle through sport, physical activity, and other means. GEN7 also helps Indigenous youth to become leaders in their community.

Partners: Sport Canada, McConnell Family Foundation, Aboriginal Sport Circle, RBC Foundation

ACTIVATE Youth Leadership Forums

2004 to 2018

ACTIVATE, a National youth leadership program of Motivate Canada, focused on inspiring, training and supporting ACTIVATOR youth leaders to develop and initiate their own sport and physical activity program, to better serve Canadian youth and their communities.

Youth Reached: Over 1,000
Forums: 29
Youth Facilitators Trained: 200

Partners: Sport Canada, Ontario Health and Long Term Care, Ottawa Senators Foundation, City of Vancouver, Heritage Canada – Youth Forums Canada, Heritage Canada – Youth Take Charge, Ontario Trillium Foundation, True Sport Foundation

Ontario Youth Advisory Committee

2008 – 2012

The Ontario Youth Advisory Committee was assembled to support the work of the ParticipACTION Teen Challenge program in addressing the physical inactivity crisis across the province.

Youth between the ages of 16-25 worked collectively to get teens moving across Ontario by supporting their peers to come up with innovative ways to get active. These ideas were further supported with micro-grant funding, provided by ParticipACTION.

Partners: Ontario Trillium Foundation and ParticipACTION Teen Challenge

Active Circle

2008 to 2016

The Active Circle was an innovative initiative by Motivate Canada in partnership with the Aboriginal Sport Circle that was developed in response to challenges faced by Indigenous youth and communities in regard to sport and recreational programming.

The Active Circle offered a streamlined process for Indigenous communities to access resources for sport, recreation, and physical activity.

Through a start-up grant from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, and with additional funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Health Canada, the Active Circle engaged approximately 11,000 youth (ages 8-18 years) from urban, remote and reserve communities in meaningful community physical activity, sport, and recreation programs.

Partners: First Nation Communities, Aboriginal Sport Circle, J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health (IAPH), Health Canada – First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), Queen’s University, Ryerson University and Nipissing University.

ESTEEM Team Wellness Workshops

2010 – 2016

The Wellness Workshop program partnered across Canada with ESTEEM Team Athlete Role Models and Motivate Canada’s Youth ACTIVATORs.

It was designed to motivate and educate youth on the importance of overall wellness (mental, physical & nutritional health) while drawing on the power of young people.

Partners: Government of Ontario, R. Howard Webster Foundation (BC)

TO2015’s Make It Happen School Program 

2011 – 2014

The Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games (TO2015) brought together 10,000 athletes and officials and featured 48 sports in 17 municipalities across the Greater Golden Horseshoe area.

TO2015’s Make It Happen School program provided Grade 9 and 10 students with a greater understanding of the dedication, commitment and hard work necessary to achieve goals, with a broader focus on character development and overall personal achievement.

Each school was paired with an athlete ambassador who visited the school at least twice during the school year. The athletes worked with the students in an intimate classroom setting where they had the opportunity to share life experiences and talk about goal setting and overcoming obstacles.

As a partner of TO2015’s, from 2010 – 2013 Motivate Canada trained 75 high performance athletes to become proficient public speakers, while also administering the logistical and evaluation elements of the program.

Physical Literacy for Females

2014 to 2016

Supported by the Ontario Sport and Recreation Communities Fund, the Motivate Canada Physical Literacy for Females project was an Ontario initiative that used Youth Driven Development (YDD) partnered with Canadian Sport for Life’s Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth training to support the healthy development of young females across Ontario.

In November 2014, fifteen facilitators between the ages of 18-24 were selected from across Ontario and have been certified as Youth Driven Development Trainers and masters of physical literacy. They connected with a local community organization to support the project and mentored and collaborated with emerging youth leaders from their community on community action projects.

Partners: Ontario Sport and Recreation Communities Fund, Canadian Sport for Life

Clean Air Champions

Acquired in 2015

Clean Air Champions (CAC) works with high-caliber athletes to educate young Canadians on the importance of air quality and its connection to health through workshops and presentations to both youth and adult led organizations.

Partners: Sport Canada, HSBC Bank of Canada

Heritage Canada Special Events: Winterlude, Canada Day

2015 to 2018

Motivate Canada, in partnership with Heritage Canada  participated in two of Canada’s largest celebratory festivals, Winterlude and Canada Day.

Motivate Canada hosted sport and physical literacy inspired “zones” where children, youth and families were given the opportunity to engage with Motivate Canada’s ESTEEM Team Athletes, GEN7 Messengers, ViaYOUTH, and LEAF Facilitators through sport and activities all centered around community engagement.

Individuals Reached to date: 100,000+
Events to date: 8
Partners: Heritage Canada

Leading, Educating Active Females (LEAF)

2016 to 2018

The LEAF project built on the success of Physical Literacy for Females. Supported by the Ontario Sport and Recreation Communities Fund, LEAF utilized Motivate Canada’s Youth Driven Development (YDD) philosophy to create opportunities for females including those in Indigenous communities, to lead healthy lifestyles rooted in physical literacy.

Partners: Ontario Sport and Recreations Communities Fund, Canada Sport for Life

ViaYOUTH Summit & Regional Forums

2018 to Current

ViaYOUTH was developed in 2018 as an evolution of the ACTIVATE Program.

ViaYOUTH hosts groups of young people in a summit environment led by Motivate Canada’s experienced Alumni, where topics of; Discovering YOU, Discovering YOUTH, Healthy YOU and Healthy YOUTH are discussed in order to inspire, educate and empower young people to create positive change within their communities.

Partners: Sport Canada, Canadian Heritage – Youth Forums Canada, Canadian Sport for Life