Getting Started

Welcome!

Will you be participating in the Young Citizens program? Congratulations; you are one of many young Canadians who share your passion for history and are great leaders in their school and community. Welcome!

You now have a unique opportunity to showcase your talents, learn more about your country’s past, and interact with other Young Citizens from all across Canada.

Your mission is to present us with a short video (3-4 minutes) about your heritage fair or other Canadian history research project, much like a nightly news story or a documentary that you would see on television. Your goal should be to make your audience as excited about your topic as you are (while telling an accurate and informative history, of course)!

Step 1 — Tell us who you are!

Register for Young Citizens by completing the online registration form at CanadasHistory.ca/YCRegister. Don't forget to attach a headshot, as well as a signed copy of the Student Permission and Media Release Form. 

If you wish to interview someone for your video, you must have all interviewees sign authorization forms. These authorization forms must be emailed to Canada’s History at youngcitizens@canadashistory.ca.

Step 2 — Get filming!

With all that paperwork out of the way, it’s time to start working on creating your video!

Canada's History has made a 5 second introduction ("bumper") that should be added to the beginning of your video. You can download the bumper here:
Young Citizens Bumper (.mp4 format)

You don’t have to stand in front of the project you created for the Heritage Fair to tell us all about it — get out in your community and visit museums, archives, or historic sites, and interview people about your topic. Remember — your final video will be 3-4 minutes long, so you will need to plan your time carefully. Make sure your video lasts exactly between 3 and 4 minutes - not too short and not too long!

Most importantly, don’t forget to be creative and HAVE FUN!

Step 3 — Send us your video!

To send us your video, you can use any existing file sharing program (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc.). We suggest using Dropbox, a free file sharing service. With a parent or guardian, visit www.dropbox.com to create a free, online account. Upload your video to a Dropbox folder, click “Share” then “Copy Link.” Paste the link into an email and send it to YoungCitizens@CanadasHistory.ca.

Videos are due to Canada’s History no later than June 5, 2024.

Step 4 — Share your work!

Once we receive your video, we will add it to your Young Citizens profile page. You can then share your video with your friends and family and showcase your great work. Please take some time to view and to comment on the videos added by other Young Citizens from all across Canada.

Step 5 — To the polls!

From June 10 to July 2, you can invite friends and family to view and vote for your video. There are social media buttons on your profile page, so you can post links on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. We would also appreciate your comments on some of the other videos that your fellow Young Citizens create. We hope that Young Citizens gives you a chance to share your research with other Canadians and to interact with other students who love history. Make sure you get lots of people to vote for your video! The result of the popular vote will make up part of your final score.

We look forward to viewing your videos! Good luck and have fun!