Trying to make decisions that could affect your career choices? Searching for answers to health questions that concern most young people? Want more details about student loans, summer jobs, and great volunteering opportunities? Care to find out more about what other young Canadians are doing, and what life is like in other parts of the country?

This list of links may save you a little surfing time as you seek out helpful information geared specifically to young people. It’s only a sample of all the great material that’s just a quick double-click away.

All sites are bilingual, unless otherwise stated.

Youth Employment Information
This Government of Canada site is loaded with information that can help you plan for a rewarding future in the workforce. You’ll find everything from something as basic as a reminder to get a Social Insurance Number all the way to in-depth inventories designed to give you a better sense of your strengths, skills and interests. The site also includes scores of links to other excellent career-related resources.

HRDC Youth Initiatives
Human Resources Development Canada has prepared this site to let young people know about some great opportunities to gain the work experience and skills that can ease their way into the workforce. Make sure to check out the “Student Summer Job Action” section.

Canada Student Loans Program
Even if you’re not ready yet to apply for a loan to continue your education, you may as well find out now what’s involved in getting one and how much money you might need to borrow. Information like this can help you make better plans for your future.

Career Edge Internships
This site presents opportunities for young people to get around that “no experience - no job” roadblock many of them face when they finish school and start looking for work. Career Edge offers paid internships that can give you the practical experience many employers expect you to have. You can find out here what’s involved in applying for one of these internships.

First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy
This site offers career advice and work-related tips specifically to First Nations and Inuit youth. There’s vital information about placements available in summer student programs and about loans available to First Nations and Inuit youth to start up small businesses.

Canadian Youth Page
This Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade site may inspire you to broaden your planning horizons. It provides information on academic exchanges with students from other countries and on international internships available to qualified applicants.

Kids Help Phone
Obviously, that all-important phone number - 1 800 668 6868 - is here in large type. But do take time to explore the site’s “Tools for Life” section where you may find just what you need to know to help you deal with issues looming large in your life. The site also offers on-line discussion groups moderated by Kids Help Phone counselors.

Health Canada On-line
Want to feel good for life? Staying healthy is the key to achieving that goal. This site offers valuable information on topics such as fitness, coping skills, drugs, body image, STDs, smoking and violence, all geared to young people. It also includes many links to fact sheets on topics ranging from acne medications and contact lenses to condoms and the impact of smog on your health.

Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission
When you get to this site, make sure you click on the Youth web site icon. You can also double click here to go directly to an impressive source of straight-talk type information on drugs. Some of the details at this site are Alberta-specific, but most of the information and activities could be helpful to young people everywhere.

Tiny Giant (TG) Magazine
Want to make your voice heard? This magazine and the organizations that publish it are run by and for young people across Canada. TG faces challenging issues such as child poverty and racism head on. Find out how you can become a writer, and how you can participate in many fascinating youth-based workshops, activities and forums.

Rendez-vous with our French-Canadian Heritage
One goal of Rendez-vous is to give Francophones all across Canada opportunities to celebrate their French culture. Check out the exchange program designed to foster knowledge and understanding of the French presence in different regions of the country. It’s geared to young people and, as past participants will testify, is both exciting and rewarding. Here’s your chance to forge ties with other young Canadians that may very well last a lifetime.

Aboriginal Youth Network (AYN)
AYN is a rich online resource created by and for Aboriginal young people. It gives them all sorts of opportunities to connect and keep in touch with each other across the country. You can participate in the network by writing articles, submitting artistic creations and posting messages on a message board. The site also offers many other related links to explore. (English only)

Francomania
If you’ve got the computer to handle it, you’ll find that this is one very cool, attractive site. It also presents terrific opportunities to learn more about and connect with young Francophones in more than 50 countries around the world. The site is also a great example of the “borderless” nature of the World Wide Web, and the endless possibilities it holds out to bring people together. (French only)

UNICEF Voices of Youth
There’s much to learn and many activities to do on this UNICEF site. Best of all, though, may be the opportunities it offers young people to share ideas about important issues affecting children around the world. Join the site’s many discussion groups and take part in various on-line referenda. Others are waiting to hear from you.

Hostelling International
Want to find out more about staying at youth hostels? Then make sure you click on the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of this site. There’s also lots of information on some of the best hostels to stay at, on making reservations and on staying in touch with folks back home when you’re on the move.

Parks Canada
Here’s a neat way to plan a real trip or take a virtual journey to some of the most beautiful and amazing parts of Canada. Spend time exploring this information-loaded Parks Canada site. And don’t miss the long list of “Related Links” that includes connections to provincial and territorial sites too.

The Virtual Museum of Canada
This site is your gateway to hundreds of exhibits that could be the highlights of any trip you take to various regions of Canada. There’s also a link to a calendar of events scheduled to take place across the country, and some links to neat activities and games.

Canadian Communities Atlas
Check out this site to learn more about an Internet-based project involving schools across Canada. Once you learn more about this cool geography and social studies-based effort, you may want to suggest that your school get involved. And, just in case you miss the link from this site to Statistics Canada’s “Student Resources”, click here to find a wealth of information on things Canadian. You can even plug into the latest data on the city or town where you live.

Katimavik
Katimavik is an Inuktitut word meaning “meeting place”. As the site’s introduction points out, “If you’re 17 to 21 years of age, want to see Canada, , meet all sorts of different people and live the adventure of a lifetime, Katimavik is for you!…Here’s your chance to make a difference, discover your skills, perhaps launch your life’s journey.” Going through the “Questions and Answers” section of this site may indeed inspire you to explore the possibilities of making a Katimavik experience the launching pad for your unique journey through life.

Canada World Youth
Canada World Youth’s programs offer young people fascinating opportunities to live with families in communities in Canada and around the world while doing volunteer work in areas such as agriculture, education, health care, the environment and information technology. You can make a difference. Explore this site to learn more about ways that you could do that.

Environment Canada's Green Lane
Read the latest issue of EnviroZine. Check out local weather forecasts. Find out what you can do to protect and improve the environment. And visit the “Youth and Environment Canada” section to learn more about the impact of the environment on your life and about specific projects designed to involve interested young people like you. If you want to go directly to the Youth section, click here (English) or here (French).

Canadian Wildlife Federation
There’s lots to explore here. Track Sherman, a leatherback sea turtle on his ocean journey in the North Atlantic. Learn more about environmentally friendly gardening and about how you can help wildlife in your area. Find out what wildlife species are endangered, and see how you can get involved in surveys related to Canada’s wildlife.

Media Awareness

The Media Awareness Network
One click on the Media Awareness site map button and you’ll see so many interesting topics that you may not know where to go first. Time spent exploring this site is definitely time well spent. You’ll come away with a much better sense of how TV, films, print, music, radio, video games and the Internet can influence our daily lives. The site also includes discussion forums and a “Student Lounge” that may interest you.

Math, Science and Sports

Canadian Mathematical Olympiad
Looking for answers to past CMO test questions? Want information on math camps and competitions, and more math-related links? Then this is the place to go.

Science and Technology Awareness Network (STANeT)
Check out the wealth of information available at the click of a mouse, thanks to STANeT’s cool collection of SciTech HotSpots. While you’re here, check out the Science Academy summer program held at Deep River, Ontario, and click on the “Inventors” button to see where it takes you. As well, feel free to take advantage of the site’s invitation to “Ask A Scientist” any wild and wacky Canadian-based science and tech question that’s been bugging you. But don’t expect the experts to do your homework for you. For homework questions, you’re on your own.

SportsCanada
Here you’ll find listings for all the national sports federations supported by SportsCanada. The site is a great way to check out pretty much every sport you can think of, and to find ways to connect locally with federation activities related to a particular sport, such as Triathlon Canada’s “Kids of Steel” program.

For more links like the ones listed above, check out

Guides to the Net: Young Persons' Guide

and

Canadian Information by Subject
And, finally, you’re invited to spend some time exploring the many fascinating sites listed on the “Famous Canadians Theme Page”. You’re bound to find something here that will interest you, turn you into a Canadian trivia genius, or be of help when researching your next project or essay on a well-known Canadian.