How to Engage Young Voters in the Upcoming Election

Only 47% of those aged 18-24 voted in the 2021 federal election: Elections Canada

Posted on April 7, 2025

Students in Dr. Karen Bird’s CIVDEM / POLSCI 4ED6 – Partnered Research in Elections and Democracy have been working all year on various projects oriented towards improving the health of our democracy, improving the quality of elections, building civic engagement, and improving diversity of leadership and perspectives.

Recently, students from the course spoke to the CBC and Radio Canada about how to engage young voters in the upcoming federal election.

According to Elections Canada’s count of voter turnout by age group, 46.7 per cent of young electors aged 18 to 24 voted in the 2021 federal election, which is lower than any other age group. In order to increase youth turnout this election, students and experts say political parties should tailor their campaigns to younger voters.

Consider the impact on youth voting if, for example, parties focused less on Old Age Security, and more on the fact that young Canadians face significantly worse economic prospects than previous generations. What if there was more attention to student housing as a pillar within Canada’s national housing strategy? What if political parties offered bold proposals to renew the Canadian social contract with a focus on intergenerational fairness?

Parties could do a better job targeting youth in their campaigns, especially when it comes to issues like housing affordability and climate change, says Mackenzie Barwell. Parties should first focus on educating new voters on the electoral process, says Ethan Evans. For Tynan Webb, social media is the best place for parties to reach people their age: “That’s where young people are at right now, and that’s the direction they have to take to engage people.”

See the story with our students that aired across multiple platforms on English language CBC:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/youth-vote-canada-engagement-2025-1.7503242
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6713904

And in French on Radio Canada:
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/videos/1-10344706/18-a-24-ans-voteront-ils-aux-elections-federales
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2150366/elections-federale-parti-politique-jeune-participation

For more information about the CIVDEM Interdisciplinary Minor, visit https://politicalscience.mcmaster.ca/civic-vitality-democracy-and-electoral-management-civdem/.