Active Program
YOUTH CLIMATE CORPS BC - SQUAMISH
This season, the YCCBC Squamish team is participating in and leading climate action projects focused on circular economies and zero-waste, ecosystem restoration, food sovereignty projects, and decreasing our communities GHG emissions through energy efficiency support and sustainable transportation initiatives.
Alongside the District of Squamish (DOS), we are excited to promote zero-waste events in Squamish through supporting Re-Use It Fairs for the community, leading recycling pop-ups and recycling tote audits to reduce contamination in the recycling system. We hope to educate the community on appropriate recycling protocols through outreach and reduce landfill waste.
We’ll also be assisting with DOS projects to reduce our community’s energy use and emissions, including air-sealing of homes with Sitka Home Energy Solutions, and promoting Go By Bike Week and other sustainable transportation education and engagement. We’ll work to improve community resilience to climate change through FireSmart and wildfire preparedness initiatives.
We’re excited to partner with both Squamish Streamkeepers and the Squamish River Watershed Society on drought monitoring, salmon salvages, and estuary restoration efforts. With the DOS, we will also assist with riparian ecosystem restoration through invasive species removal and native species planting. These projects will not only create healthier ecosystems but bolster local food sovereignty through supporting our local salmon runs. With the Squamish Climate Action Network, we will also support food security and relocalizing economies by assisting with repair and maintenance work at local community farms.
Land Acknowledgment
We live and work on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation). The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people have inhabited this area for millennia, caretaking this land, the waters, and all our non-human relatives. We are settlers with ancestral ties to many lands and communities, who have grown up on the traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and Líl̓wat Nations; the SENĆOŦEN and Hul’q’umi’num’ speaking peoples; and the Wendake-Nionwentsïo, Anishinabewaki, Ho-de-no-sau-nee-ga (Haudenosaunee), Chonnonton, and Mississauga First Nations. These connections and relations inform our work and lives on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh land. We encourage you to investigate your own relations to land and the stories they carry: Whose Land or Native Land are great starting places.
We recognize that colonization is a primary driver of the climate crisis and that environmental and climate movements frequently fail to address this, perpetuating more harm. Western environmentalism has often failed to recognize (or intentionally obscured) Indigenous Peoples’ presence and sovereign rights. For thousands of years, these lands have been and continue to be lived on, worked on, cultivated, and stewarded by Indigenous peoples.
As we work to help our community mitigate and adapt to climate change, we strive to do so in concert with the vision and implementation practices outlined in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw Climate Legacy Strategy.
Decolonization is a complex and constantly evolving process; we are committed to furthering that process in ourselves, across YCCBC, within the Squamish program, and our larger communities. We know we will make mistakes, and we are committed to learning from them and trying again. We welcome opportunities and feedback on how we can further support decolonization in our work.
Photo Caption: May 20th 2026, the YCCBC Squamish crew kicks off their first week of the season with a tour of Alice Lake facilitated by Talaysay Tours.
MEET YCCBC SQUAMISH
Within Youth Climate Corps, crew members are between 17-30 years old; they earn wages, gain work experience, build networks, and develop themselves personally and professionally. Meanwhile, they complete projects that both benefit their own communities and support global efforts to act on the climate crisis.
If you or your organization wants to learn more about how to team up with us and move forward on projects in your community, or if you are interested in funding one of our projects related to our different focus areas, we are here to support you.