Youth Climate Corps

What Youth Climate Corps does

Youth Climate Corps BC (YCCBC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2020 that provides paid, community-based climate action employment for young people aged 17-29 across British Columbia. Originally piloted by Wildsight in Nelson, the program spun off as an independent entity and now operates a hub-and-spoke network of 11 regional programs — including Courtenay, Squamish, Vernon, Kelowna, Alert Bay, Hazelton, Kamloops, Richmond, Victoria, and East/West Kootenay — each co-designed with municipal, Indigenous, and community partners to deliver place-based climate projects such as wildfire risk reduction, ecological restoration (including Burns Bog), residential energy retrofits, food security, and active transportation. Crew members earn a living wage while receiving leadership training, mentorship, and pathways into unionized green-economy trades, exemplified by the BC Insulators pre-apprenticeship partnership with Local 118.

YCCBC is not a technology company and operates no proprietary software platform. Its "technology" is the operational playbook for convening local governments, Indigenous nations, environmental NGOs (Wildsight, Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, Squamish River Watershed Society, etc.), unions (BC Insulators, BC Federation of Labour), and educational institutions to staff seasonal crews. Programmatic features include the Climate-Friendly Homes Program (residential retrofits), a Youth Leadership Development Program, and an Alumni Network tracking graduate career outcomes in climate-focused roles.

The organization's revenue model is grant-based and donation-supported rather than commercial. Revenue streams include provincial government grants ($3M in 2024 from the BC Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions, plus $1.4M additional committed in June 2026 via a shared-cost agreement), federal commitments ($40M over two years announced in Budget 2025 for a national Youth Climate Corps), corporate and foundation grants (e.g., Coast Capital $50K, Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions), and individual donations. Participants are paid rather than charged; pricing is not applicable to the youth segment, and no commercial pricing model exists.

Name

Youth Climate Corps

Legal name

Youth Climate Corps BC

Website

https://youthclimatecorps.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Youth Climate Corps BC is a nonprofit providing paid, living-wage climate action employment for youth aged 17-29 across 11 British Columbia communities, partnering with municipalities, Indigenous nations, and labor unions to deliver wildfire risk reduction, ecosystem restoration, and energy retrofits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Climate Employment Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF)

Keywords

• Youth climate employment
• Green workforce training
• Ecosystem restoration services
• Community climate programs
• Wildfire risk reduction

Headquarters

HQ city

Nelson

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Provincial Government Funding: The Province of British Columbia provides significant funding through the Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions. In 2024, $3 million was announced, and in June 2026, an additional $1.4 million was committed through a shared-cost agreement.
2. Federal Government Funding: Federal Budget 2025 committed $40 million over two years to establish a national Youth Climate Corps, marking the first federal recognition of a national YCC initiative.
3. Corporate and Foundation Grants: Organizations such as Coast Capital ($50,000), Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, and other foundations provide grant funding for specific programs.
4. Donations: Individual donations from supporters who want to contribute to youth climate action and workforce development.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Youth Climate Corps BC delivers paid youth employment programs (living wage for participants aged 17-29) focused on community-based climate action projects including wildfire risk reduction, ecological restoration, energy efficiency retrofits, food security, and sustainable transportation across British Columbia. The organization complements field projects with training, mentorship, leadership development, and pathways into the green economy.

Product overview

Youth Climate Corps BC operates as a province-wide network of youth-led climate action programs offering paid employment, training, and leadership development for young people aged 17-29. The core Youth Climate Corps BC program delivers hands-on climate projects across multiple communities in British Columbia, including local programs in Courtenay, Vernon, Kelowna, Squamish, North Vancouver Island, East/West Kootenay, and Hazelton. Each regional program is co-created with local governments and community partners to address specific climate priorities such as ecological restoration, wildfire risk reduction, food security, energy efficiency retrofits, water stewardship, and sustainable transportation. The Youth Leadership Development Program provides mentorship, peer-to-peer learning, and experiential education, while the Climate-Friendly Homes Program focuses on residential energy retrofits. The organization also partners with unions like BC Insulators for pre-apprenticeship training in skilled trades. Since 2020, over 150 young people have participated, completing thousands of Climate Action Days across the province.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Youth Climate Corps BC Core Program Province-wide paid youth climate-employment program for participants aged 17-29 across British Columbia, delivering community-based climate-action projects including wildfire risk reduction, ecological restoration, food security, and sustainable transportation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,400+ paid working days of climate action completed in 2024
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BC Insulators Union (Local 118)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2024Partnership with BC Insulators Local 118 to deliver a Pre-apprenticeship Program preparing youth for careers in insulation (heat and frost insulators), a trade essential to energy efficiency. Includes 20-hour training program with pathway to red seal certification and unionized employment.
• WildsightcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Wildsight, an environmental organization working in the Columbia Basin for nearly 40 years, originally founded the Youth Climate Corps pilot program in Nelson in 2020. Wildsight continues to operate East and West Kootenay Youth Climate Corps crews as part of the YCCBC network. This is the founding partnership that established the YCC model.
• City of CourtenaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Courtenay partners with YCCBC to host a local Youth Climate Corps program. The partnership supports climate action including ecological restoration, food security, FireSmart initiatives, and community engagement. Mayor Bob Wells has publicly endorsed the program.
• City of VernoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Vernon partners with YCCBC for the local program focused on ecological restoration, FireSmart, active transportation, and youth education. The program enters its second season in 2026.
• City of KelownacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Kelowna partners with YCCBC to support the Climate Resilient Kelowna Strategy. Youth work on urban forestry, water conservation, FireSmart initiatives, and sustainable transportation programs.
• District of SquamishcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistrict of Squamish partners with YCCBC for the third season of local programming. The partnership supports FireSmart, energy efficiency, zero-waste, and sustainable transportation projects.
• Namgis First NationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNamgis First Nation hosts the Kwakwaka'wakw Revitalization Project in Alert Bay, providing meaningful place-based climate employment for local Indigenous youth focused on cultural revitalization, ecosystem restoration, and traditional food practices.
• Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition (SWCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSWCC partnered with YCCBC in 2025 to build opportunities for youth in the Skeena watershed. YCC funding enabled SWCC to hire 4 youth supporting field schools, bioremediation projects, and Youth and Women on Water programs.
• Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYCCBC is part of the CAN-Rac network and participates in national climate collaborations and summits like the Montreal Climate Summit.
• HUB CyclingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVancouver program partner supporting cycling infrastructure and active transportation initiatives.
• Metro Vancouver Regional Parks FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVancouver program partner for ecosystem restoration and environmental projects.
• LUSH Valley Food Action SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCourtenay program partner supporting food security and sustainable agriculture initiatives.
• Project Watershed SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCourtenay program partner for ecological restoration and water quality monitoring.
• BC Parks FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCourtenay program partner for environmental monitoring and conservation projects.
• Squamish River Watershed SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSquamish program partner for native species planting and estuary restoration.
• Squamish CANminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSquamish program partner for community sustainability initiatives.
• Talaysay ToursminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSquamish program partner providing Indigenous land stewardship education.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Generation Green (Canada): Canadian youth green-jobs initiative creating employment and training pathways for young people in the green economy — directly comparable to YCCBC's paid youth employment model and a likely national-scale complement or competitor.
• Student Energy: Canadian/ global youth-led organization focused on clean-energy workforce development that featured YCCBC as a case study in 'Building the Clean Energy Workforce of Tomorrow'; comparable in its youth energy-employment focus and a recognized pipeline partner.
• Force of Nature: UK-based youth climate-action organization mobilizing young people into climate careers and projects; comparable in mission, youth target segment (late teens to late twenties), and advocacy/training delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• Clean Energy Canada: Clean-energy policy and workforce think tank at Simon Fraser University; comparable as a Canadian clean-energy-transition ecosystem actor with overlapping workforce-development narrative and federal policy influence.
• Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac): Canada's largest climate advocacy coalition, of which YCCBC is a member and active participant in national summits; broader in scope (policy and advocacy) but operationally adjacent as a convening network for climate civil society.

Regional players

• Sierra Club BC: British Columbia chapter of the Sierra Club, a long-standing environmental advocacy and conservation organization active in the same BC geography and Indigenous-climate-jusice space as YCCBC; comparable mission with an older advocacy-led posture.

Direct peers

• American Conservation Experience: US-based nonprofit running paid conservation corps programs that place young adults in environmental projects — analogous to YCCBC in target demographic, project mix (restoration, wildfire risk, energy efficiency), and mission-driven delivery model.
• California Conservation Corps: California's flagship paid youth conservation corps employing thousands of young adults (18-25) in environmental and climate projects — directly comparable to YCCBC's paid living-wage youth climate employment model, though at much larger scale and longer history.
• Wildsight: YCCBC's founding organization and the operator of the East/West Kootenay Youth Climate Corps crews — a Columbia Basin environmental nonprofit with a near-40-year track record and the original YCC pilot creator; the closest operational peer and historical parent of YCCBC.

Others

• Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions: University of Victoria-hosted climate solutions research consortium and YCCBC program funder; adjacent ecosystem actor that connects research to youth climate-employment outcomes similar to YCCBC's clean-economy pathway.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/YouthClimateCorps
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/youth-climate-corps
• Instagraminstagram.com/youthclimatecorps
• TikToktiktok.com/@youthclimatecorps
• Xx.com/ycc_can

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Youth Climate Corps