Empowering Youth
Understanding Canada's path to electrification
Real students. Real Canadian energy data. Real insight into how the country gets to net zero — with your organization behind it.
What it is
Empowering Youth is a national hackathon that puts real Canadian energy data into the hands of the next generation. Students from across the country work with live grid, distributed energy, and electrification data — governed responsibly through the Energy Data Trust — alongside AI tools and mentorship, to explore and build practical solutions for Canada's path to electrification.
It's learning by doing, on data that actually matters, handled the right way.
Why it matters
Electrification is the backbone of Canada's energy transition — and getting there depends on a generation that understands energy, data, and AI together. Empowering Youth gives students that head start, and gives your organization a visible, credible way to invest in the talent, ideas, and communities driving the shift.
Because the program runs on the Energy Data Trust, students don't just learn on sample data — they learn to work with real energy data responsibly, under FAIR principles and a privacy-first governance model. Data literacy and data ethics, built in from day one.
Four focus areas
Education — developing future leaders. Hands-on skills in energy, data, and AI that classrooms rarely reach, delivered through a real challenge with real stakes.
Energy + AI — building practical solutions. Students use AI tools and Canadian energy data to prototype solutions for electrification challenges — from grid efficiency to EV and heat-pump adoption to demand response.
Research — turning data into insight. Guided work that converts raw energy data into insight, giving students a first taste of applied energy research.
Community — making impact visible locally. Projects are rooted in students' own communities and regions, so the impact is tangible and the results are worth celebrating.
How it works
1. Partners come on board. Utilities, foundations, companies, and public-sector organizations sponsor the program and, where relevant, contribute or enable access to Canadian energy data through the Energy Data Trust.
2. Schools and students join. Participating schools and students across Canada are onboarded onto a secure data platform with the tools and mentorship they need.
3. Students build. Over the challenge period, student teams work with real data and AI tools to build solutions to electrification and clean-energy problems, supported by mentors.
4. Impact is shared. Projects are showcased, results are made visible in participants' communities, and outcomes are reported back to partners.
Built on proven success
Empowering Youth builds on the Caribbean UEnergyHub, delivered by CZITT (the Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad and Tobago) on Screaming Power's secure data platform. Smart Grid Innovation Network Canada (SGIN) contributed to the development of the data tooling behind that program — and we're now drawing on its proven success to bring the model home to Canada.
Be a founding partner
Empowering Youth is launching nationally, and the first cohort of partners will shape how it runs — and be recognized as the organizations that got Canada's youth energy-data movement off the ground.
Founding partners get:
- Recognition as a founding supporter across the program and its communications
- A direct role in defining the program's focus, regions, and challenge themes
- A visible commitment to Canada's electrification talent pipeline and to responsible energy-data use
- First access to the students, ideas, and projects the program produces
Partnership options
Flexible, no fixed pricing — partnerships are shaped around your goals.
National Partnership — lead the program. Take a leadership role across Empowering Youth, with the broadest recognition and the deepest involvement in program direction.
Sponsor a School / Region. Bring the program to a specific school, board, or community — including the data access and support students need to take part.
Regional Sponsor — multi-school support. Back the program across a province or region, enabling several schools and reaching more students at once.
Register your interest
Put your organization behind Canada's next generation of energy innovators. See the ways to get involved and become a founding partner on our Funding & Support page.
FAQ
Who is this for? Students across Canada, supported by their schools and by partner organizations who sponsor the program.
What data do students use? Real Canadian energy data, accessed responsibly through the Energy Data Trust's secure, privacy-first platform and governed by FAIR data principles.
Do students need prior experience with AI or data? No. The program is built to teach these skills through a guided, hands-on challenge with mentorship.
How is student and energy data kept safe? Governance and privacy are the foundation of the Energy Data Trust. Students learn on real data within a secure environment designed around responsible, ethical use.
How does my organization get involved? Visit our Funding & Support page and register your interest, and we'll follow up to design a partnership around your goals.