Canada’s largest youth forum

2012- 2013 Message from the Director The change I have already created and the burning passion I live General with everyday, I owe it all to Encounters with Canada. Taylor Quinn from Vancouver, BC, an EWC alumnus (2009), a social activist and motivational speaker who regularly volunteers in Africa to end global poverty, one child at a time.

Encounters with Canada helps young people become knowledgeable and engaged Canadian citizens. Participants discover first-hand their country’s political governance and cultural heritage through visits to iconic institutions such as Parliament, national museums, historic landmarks and taking part in a series of interactive modules, with a focus on contemporary issues such as diversity, linguistic duality, peace and youth engagement.

Encounters with Canada brings together students with common interests and enthusiasm to experience unique career options. Participating in one of our twelve weekly themes through a series of hands-on activities, interactive presentations and unique workshops Our mascot Lola assists young teens in gaining valuable insights into their potential future careers.

Encounters with Canada helps youth acquire the tools 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of Encounters with Canada – our country’s and know-how to reach their potential. Participants develop largest youth forum. valuable leadership and employment skills, including teamwork, self-discipline, reliability, and a strong work ethic. This allows There is nothing more rewarding and gratifying to an educator than to see participants to flourish and push their own limits. young students become the very best they can be. At Encounters with Canada, we encourage teens to aim higher, to push harder and farther than they ever thought they could - to reach their potential.

Week after week, I receive moving testimonials from both current participants and our alumni telling me how life-changing their time at Encounters has been. Participants make new discoveries, meet dynamic people, exchange ideas through exclusive workshops, presentations, and hands-on activities and have the opportunity to explore potential career options - plus they gain a greater appreciation of their country and become more informed and engaged citizens. Most important of all, they meet other young Canadians from across our land, forging enduring friendships that will last a lifetime.

To discover more about our program, please read this brochure; for a more For more information, visit in-depth and personal view, check out our video in the Promo section of encounters-rencontres.ca our website (encounters-rencontres.ca). or As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, I invite students and teachers, alike, call: 1-800-361-0419 to discover Encounters with Canada for themselves - and become part of our next 30 years of memories. Please register today!

Linda Brunet Encounters with Canada is supported in part by Director General

Mikayla Petrie, Kelly’s Cross, PEI “It is the right amount of education mixed with fun. I enjoyed every minute of it.” Encounters with Canada is a one-of-a-kind citizenship and youth leadership experience A week of unique that is truly affordable!

Thanks to Exchanges Canada, a program of the Department of experiences Canadian Heritage and our major financial partner, all transportation costs (plane, train, bus) ARE ENTIRELY FREE from anywhere in Canada!

— a lifetime of Registration fees include lodging, all meals, most planned activities and local transportation - for only $675 per participant! Some provincial and memories territorial ministries of education also offer financial subsidies to reduce their students’ registration fees. More information is available from your regional coordinator or on the Encounters with Canada website. To be eligible, the student must be: Canada’s largest youth forum presents a unique opportunity for high school students from across Canada to spend a week in Ottawa, expanding their knowledge of Canada’s culture and heritage, exploring potential career options and developing new skills.

To be eligible, the student must be: Every week, Encounters with Canada (EWC) hosts over 130 dynamic young people aged 14 to 17 years, who travel to the Terry Fox Canadian • Between 14 and 17 years old Youth Centre, forming a mini-Canada representation and taking part in this amazing bilingual adventure. • Enrolled in an educational institution recognized by the Ministry of Education

• A Canadian citizen or landed immigrant

To register, contact your EWC regional coordinator or school guidance counsellor for an access code today! Visit encounters-rencontres.ca to find out more about how you can register for this once-in-a lifetime experience! How affordable is EWC?

Today there are many travel opportunities for students; however Students have a choice of one of 12 career-themed weeks, offered at none match the value of Encounters various times over a 26-week period. Some sessions focus on broadening with Canada. Our dynamic team the knowledge and understanding of Canadian culture, heritage and of dedicated staff ensure that the political institutions. Others delve more deeply into the weekly theme Encounters with Canada experience through interactive presentations, workshops, visits and meeting is safe, unique and superior to any professionals and specialists, who provide a unique perspective of that other travel opportunity that exists. particular career. This potent combination brings Canadian history alive, while giving teens a one-of-a-kind insight into their potential future careers.

Participants connect with each other throughout the EWC program, strengthening friendships and creating linkages across the country. Together they go to the theatre, visit national museums, attend EWC Other trips uniquely Canadian events and special ceremonies, and/or interact with politicians, musicians, ecologists, authors, police officers, and other Travel $ 810 Canadian leaders. As our participants get to know one another, they also develop a strong Canadian identity and a pride in their country. Meals $ 500 Accommodation $ 400 Each week concludes with a Friday-night banquet, one last opportunity for participants to be with their newly found friends made during a Programming $ 900 jam-packed week of activities. Participants return home with a stronger Totals $ 675 - $ 2610 sense of community and an increased desire to do their share. all inclusive Law

Youth Participants visit the Supreme Court of Canada, an Ottawa Jail Hostel and a police department, leaders in action! among others, as well as having the opportunity to take part in a mock trial. Lawyers come Our program runs from mid-September to early December and from throughout the week to help prepare and assist late January to early May. Students may choose one from among our the participants in their roles as lawyers, court 12 popular career-oriented themes, depending on their interests. clerks, witnesses and the jury. The presence of Throughout the week, participants enjoy a multitude of activities: legal professionals lends an aura of authenticity Parliament and museum visits, a guided tour of the National Capital to the mock trial case, where everyone gets to Region, cultural events, as well as theme-related pursuits. play an active role.

Ecology & Sports & Fitness Environment

The promotion of fitness as part of During this jam-packed week, many sites are visited: the Canadian a healthy lifestyle is the focus of Agriculture Museum, the National Capital Commission’s Gatineau Park this week and gives participants the with the observation of its unique flora and fauna, and the conservation opportunity to try out a number of and exploration of a 400-year-old forest. Participants learn first-hand sports activities such as: Ultimate from biologists, ecologists and other scientific experts about the use Frisbee, martial arts, wall-climbing, and abuse of our resources, and they provide answers and tools to downhill skiing, snowboarding, swimming, dragon boating, skating, take action. trampoline, and a military-style boot camp, to name a few. Past speakers have included Olympians, nutritionists, and fitness experts.

Medicine & Health

Arts & Culture Presentations on health research, HIV-AIDS, art therapy, cancer treatment, a medical ethics discussion and a role-play session are but Participants have a fantastic lineup of a few of the activities awaiting Canada’s future generation of health unique workshops to choose from, practitioners. The week may include tours of research labs at a cancer including introduction to art therapy, mime, centre, food analysis, genetics and reproductive technologies, to name swing dancing, slam, environmental a few. A forum with recent university graduates rounds out the week’s art, the foundation of B-Boying, collage, activities, providing vital information about their roles, aspirations and mono-printing, improvisation, and so much future plans in their respective fields. more. To kick off the week, participants experience the uplifting messages from an inspirational and motivational entertainer. Our artistic teens also enjoy a visit to one Canada Remembers of the world’s greatest collections at the (programmed by Veterans Affairs Canada) National Art Gallery. Young Canadians are offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about the significance of Remembrance Day. They attend the Remembrance Day Ceremonies held at the War Memorial, and visit the Canadian War Museum. They hear first-hand accounts of the crucial role that Canadian men and women played in the development of our country and the preservation of our freedoms. They also network with military veterans and peacekeepers, who share their personal stories of sacrifice and putting their lives on the line to support peace. Science & Technology Vimy: Canada’s Coming of Age (programmed by the Vimy Foundation) Participants are introduced to a myriad of activities including neuroscience, space and astronomy, DNA forensics, computer programming and This theme focuses on an in-depth look at Canada’s participation in robotics. They visit the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the the First World War. The victory at Vimy Ridge in France is said to be Canadian Museum of Nature, tour labs and research institutes, and so Canada’s “coming of age” as a nation. Participants learn about the much more. Participants also have the opportunity to meet and discuss legacy of Vimy and are challenged to take up the torch of remembrance, cancer therapeutics, chemistry and other topics of interest during a Let’s so that the memory of those who served and sacrificed will never fade. Talk Science career panel of recent university graduates.

Politics in Canada

This week looks into Canada’s strong democratic traditions and how our system of parliamentary government functions. Taking advantage Journalism & of the events happening in Ottawa at the time, participants enjoy many privileged opportunities. These may include visiting the Supreme Court of Communications Canada and perhaps listening to an appeal, touring the Laurier House or seeing Rideau Hall, the official residence and workplace of the Governor This theme examines the essential role media play in our democratic General, as well as taking an extended visit of Parliament. Participants society. Participants learn about the process of collecting, reporting and hear diplomats speak about their roles, and they may meet ministers, analyzing news and information. They hear from trade experts, such as members of parliament, senators, political staffers, and/or lobbyists. journalists, cartoonists, poets, actors and various other communicators. Eye-opening events include television and radio workshops in Montreal that provide participants with a unique way to get behind the scenes and try their hands at many of the crafts involved in producing a program

Photo credit: Sgt Serge Gouin, Rideau Hall © 2011 Office of the Secretary to the Governor General Reproduced with the permission of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General

RCMP (programmed by the RCMP)

International Affairs Participants spend the week with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Participants are immersed in the Police. They learn about the force, its international arena. Topics might programs and its proud Canadian history include globalization, human rights, and traditions. Participants also meet with and diplomacy. Several international senior officers and have the chance to ask agencies will be visited, which them questions about their roles. A full day support social development programs is spent at RCMP headquarters, where and sustainable improvements in participants learn about fingerprinting, the quality of life of impoverished, forensics, the tactical troop, the RCMP marginalized countries around the world. They may also hear from physical fitness screening test, and more. ambassadors, international dignitaries and/or senior bureaucrats. They also visit the RCMP stables and watch a Musical Ride rehearsal. Modules : Participants stay connected – Students participate in unique and interactive with the EWC Alumni Community! modules, each linked to their chosen career theme. Linguistic Duality

- programmed by Official Languages of the Department of Canadian Heritage Participants consider the benefits and challenges of living in a bilingual country. This module is adapted to reflect the issues expressed by Time and again, the one wish expressed by all Encounters with Canada participants in each career theme. participants and alumni is to stay connected with friends made at the Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre. And now this has been made easy – by Multiculturalism joining the EWC Alumni Community! Everyone who has stepped through the Centre’s doors – as participants, - programmed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada teacher-monitors, staff, speakers, or workshop presenters – is invited The goal is to foster increased intercultural understanding and an to join. integrated society with equal opportunity for all, as well as to enhance the Through our alumni community, you can reconnect with old friends, values and promote the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship. send messages, share photos or personal news, reminisce, form and Peace join groups, and take part in alumni events or plan your own. By joining the EWC Alumni Community, you become part of an elite club - programmed by the Department of Veterans Affairs Canada – one of the more than 89,000 individuals, who have taken part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. The aim is to raise student awareness of the price of peace, and to honour and remember Canadians currently serving or who have served our We hope you will register for the alumni community after you have country with great dignity and sacrifice, so we may live in a free society. finished your week at the Centre. In the meantime, please check it out at: encounters-rencontres.ca – Alumni. Youth Engagement

Students meet Senior Citizenship Judge George Springate to discuss how they can make a difference, and the important role they can play through their involvement in their communities and in the political process.

Encounters with Canada is a signature program of The Historica-Dominion Institute, Canada’s largest independent organization dedicated to history and citizenship. Its mandate is to build active and informed citizens through a greater knowledge and appreciation of the history, heritage and stories of Canada. Through the unique youth forum Encounters with Canada, the Institute seeks to develop a base of engaged leaders for the future. Visit historica-dominion.ca to learn more about the other flagship programs of the Institute. The Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre

The opportunity to forge new friendships and create close bonds with young people from across Canada in just one short week is made possible through living in a stimulating and unique setting offered at the Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre. This self-contained residential facility, minutes away from downtown Ottawa, has been specifically designed with youth in mind.

Every week during the school year, 130-plus students and six teacher- monitors from Canada’s provinces and territories come together to share both their similarities and differences. They explore our country’s political, cultural and historical landscape and meet leading figures, experts and distinguished guests.

The Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre also welcomes participants with special needs. The Centre is fully accessible - van, elevator, washrooms and showers.

For more details and photos, visit: encounters-rencontres.ca – Facilities. “The ties and friends I have made here are unlike anything I have experienced prior to this program.” Kiera Mitchell, YES! Lumsden, Saskatchewan I am interested in attending – Please complete this form, cut it out and mail it to:

“The Sports and Fitness theme week during my Encounters visit really gave me a lot more insight into Encounters with Canada what I am capable of.” Matthew Rice, Slemon Park, Prince Edward Island 1805 Gaspé Avenue Ottawa ON K1K 0A4 1-800-361-0419, ext 9514 encounters-rencontres.ca

______Family name “My perspective of Canada has grown significantly in a very positive way and I am so, so happy that I got to experience all of this.” Jasmin Winter, Vancouver, British Columbia ______First name

“I attended the International Affairs week of the program ______and I found it to be exceptionally helpful in becoming a Address better Canadian and global citizen.” Sam Stockton, Airdrie, Alberta

______City Province/Territory “This experience has improved my French, expanded my ______connections throughout Canada, expanded my views of Postal code opportunities for careers, and overall has been a really fun time.” Eric Warner, North Vancouver, British Columbia

______Email address

“My experience here in Ottawa was unreal. I didn’t think it ______would be as good as this. The cultures, history, and memo- Telephone Age Date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy) ries I have gained from EWC are amazing.” Laura Daye, Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland

______Name of school School contact “Encounters with Canada has been one of the most culturally and socially enriching experiences of my life.” Adam Ravalier, Twillingate, Newfoundland ______School contact email

“Many valuable lessons have been learned - ones that I can ______take home with me and apply in my everyday life.” Signature (school authorities) Ericka Cnuli, Waterford, Ontario

With the participation of

Session d’automne 2012 Fall Session Session d’automne 2012 Fall Session

Sports & Fitness Sports & bonne forme Arts & Culture Arts & culture Canada’s Vimy: Coming of Age : Passage pour Vimy l’autonomie du Canada Medicine & Health Médecine & santé Science & Technology Sciences & technologies Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gendarmerie royale du Canada Journalism & Communications Journalisme & communications International Affairs Affaires internationales Politics in Canada Politique canadienne Ecology & Environment Écologie & environnement Law Loi Canada Remembers Le Canada se souvient Sports & Fitness Sports & bonne forme Arts & Culture Arts & culturev Coming of Age Canada’s Vimy: : Passage pour l’autonomie Vimy du Canada Medicine & Health Médecine & santé Science & Technology Sciences & technologies Police Mounted Royal Canadian Gendarmerie royale du Canada Journalism & Communications Journalisme & communications International Affairs Affaires internationales Politics in Canada Politique canadienne Ecology & Environment Écologie & environnement Law Loi Canada Remembers Le Canada se souvient

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