Get Involved in Youth Leadership Opportunities

The City of Surrey offers a variety of leadership opportunities for youth. If you or a youth that you know  interested in arts, leadership, event planning or community service there is an opportunity for you!

Youth voices matter. They matter in Surrey and they matter all over the world. Have your voice heard and affect change on both a small and large scale in Surrey's Leadership Youth Council (SLYC), Surrey Events Squad (YES) and/or Surrey Youth Stewardship Squad (SYSS).

Surrey Leadership Youth Council

The Surrey Leadership Youth Council (SLYC) is a group of youth between the ages of 14 and 18 who help youth speak up and have their voices heard with the support of the City of Surrey. SLYC hosts the Youth Speak Up forum in October every year. Volunteer applications are accepted in March, August and December. For more information, contact youth@surrey.ca.

Youth Events Squad

The Youth Events Squad (YES) helps plan and execute the City of Surrey’s biggest youth events, including the Surrey Youth Showcase event series. If you are between the ages of 14 and 21, you are welcome to join YES or contribute to meetings about specific events. Volunteer applications are accepted in March, August and December. For more information, contact youth@surrey.ca.

Surrey's Youth Stewardship Squad

Surrey's Youth Stewardship Squad (SYSS) combines environmental stewardship and leadership in Surrey's unique urban forest. SYSS enhances our parks through hands-on restoration, education at community events, and other unique projects. For more information, contact stewardship@surrey.ca.

We interviewed a few Youth Events Squad and Surrey Leadership Youth Council members to get a sense of what being part of this opportunity is like and how it has impacted their lives.

• “Since being on YES, my communication and creativity skills have expanded. Over the course of 10 months, I was able to have more confidence in sharing my opinions and ideas.” - Preet, YES Member
• “Do not hesitate to join the Youth Events Squad. It is a priceless and fun experience, and one meets many of their community members and hosts some of the largest events for their community members to enjoy.” - Arshpal, YES member
• “I joined the team since I wanted to contribute to society and SLYC seems to be the perfect place for it!” - Kyungmin, SLYC member
• “My biggest achievement thus far is being rewarded with the Youth Bursary from Equitas on account of my work as an SLYC member. To me, this is very special as I worked very hard for it, and if it wasn't for the resources and education provided by SLYC I wouldn't have been able to get this award.” - Aayush, SLYC member
• “The biggest takeaway from SLYC for me has been that it doesn’t matter what your age is, it is never too early or late to start developing your leadership skills. Learning to be a leader that is driven, compassionate, and hardworking takes practice and effort, but it will help you so much in your future career to start learning early.” - Tisha, SLYC member