Young Life of Canada Annual Report 2024
A Letter From David
In my role as the leader of our organization, I am often asked these two questions: “How is Young Life doing?” and “What is going on with teenagers today?”
Since 1954, Young Life of Canada has been reaching teens with the good news of Jesus Christ. Seventy-one years later, we are delighted to still be about that main thing: going after teens who do not know about Jesus. 90 percent of the time, we do this nonverbally in the context of friendships and life-on-life investment. But, 10 percent of the time we proclaim who He is with our lips. We share about Jesus who came in the flesh; lived, died, and lived again all to show us what God is like and how much He loved us!
Alpha. These teens have never known a world without the smartphone, social media is a way of life, and their most formative years were influenced by a global pandemic. They have become known as the anxious generation — disconnected, citizens of the digital world, and easily distracted. They are seen as dialed-in but "checked out". The world sees this generation of teens as broken and damaged.
But that's not how we see teenagers; we look at teens and see people who are deeply known and loved by the God of the universe. We value them as the leaders of both today and tomorrow. We believe every teen matters and that they have something great to offer the world.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
HEBREWS 13:8
Our prayer is that teens are so compelled by Jesus, they choose to follow Him. We love to help them get rooted in their faith and learn what it means to be with Jesus, become like Him, and do what He did.
Our vision in Young Life is that every teen in Canada would become fully alive in Jesus Christ.
We imagine our work like the ripple effect across a lake. Kids are introduced to Jesus; discipled in their faith and go on to have tremendous impact as Kingdom leaders — long after they have left Young Life.
Over these 70+ years, we’ve worked alongside several unique generations — each with their own distinctive traits, cultural issues, and worldviews. Right now, we work alongside Gen Z and Gen
One of our goals in our work with teenagers is to make them feel known. We do this by spending time with them, listening without judgment, and walking through hard things with them. We both show and tell them that they are loved, just as they are.
I am very optimistic about this next generation.
I trust that as you read the stories and testimonies in this report, that you will join me in this optimism and in prayer. We are asking God to do a great work in young people in the coming years and that Young Life would get to be one of the vehicles with which He accomplishes His great purposes!
In Christ, David David Thakkar President, Young Life of Canada
Field Camping Mission Services
4,861 1,178 $13.5M
KIDS KNOWN BY NAME TEENS TO SUMMER CAMP TOTAL DONATIONS
425 4,350 $499K
VOLUNTEER LEADERS ZIP FLIGHTS DISTRIBUTED FOR CAMP SCHOLARSHIP 92 24.5K 6,809
MINISTRIES VOLUNTEER HOURS UNIQUE DONORS
314 $1.11M 2,456
CAMPAIGNERS RAISED IN DONATIONS PRE-AUTHORIZED MONTHLY DONORS 122 36 14
FIELD STAFF PROPERTY STAFF EXECUTIVE AND NATIONAL OFFICE STAFF
Capernaum Family Camp
Istood on the stage of the club room and looked out at the 140 guests at Capernaum Family Camp. Many of the friends in the room have found themselves on the edge of belonging, not quite sure where they fit. Some are even further down “country lanes,” finding it easier to just stay away from communities that have been unwelcoming.
With great joy I told Jesus’ parable of the Great Banquet Feast. My heart for guests was to hear that Jesus has invited them to join Him in a
banquet feast that He has lovingly prepared for them, welcoming and honouring them.
Our Capernaum team wanted the families to not only hear the truth of God’s extravagant love, but also to experience it. During club, the amazing work staff transformed the dining room into a banquet hall with rows of long tables and name tags on each plate, welcoming each guest. The feeling in the room was electric as we celebrated with great food, fun conversation, and an epic dance party. It was a small taste of heaven!
Kathy Dubbeldam Capernaum Ministry Director
Go out to the roads and country lanes … so that my house will be full.
JESUS, LUKE 14:23
Getting Into the School
When I moved from Ontario to South Surrey, BC, I felt a strong calling from God to continue my work with Young Life, just in a new place.
A few months after arriving, I emailed the athletic director at Earl Marriott Secondary, asking about the possibility of coaching a sports team. To my surprise, he responded almost immediately, inviting me to meet with him. When I walked into the gym, I was shocked to find girls basketball tryouts happening right then. The athletic director spotted me, waved me over, and said, “I’d love for you to be the assistant grade eight girls basketball coach — let me introduce you to the team!” He then paused the tryouts to introduce me, saying, “This is Grace, she’s from Young Life.”
He looked around the gym and asked, “Who here has been to Young Life? Grace is going to be a great mentor for you!” I was completely speechless.
In all my years with Young Life, I had never experienced anything like this. God’s goodness was so clear. Within the week, I was regularly visiting the high school, building connections with current and potential WyldLife and Young Life teens.
Grace Sinclair-Peters Area Director | South Surrey, BC
Concluding Forward Together
We have come to the end of our Forward Together Strategic Plan. For the last three years, as a mission, we have focused on:
This plan was conceived at the height of the global pandemic, a time when embarking on a new strategic direction seemed like an incredibly daunting task. With so many limitations on our activities — we couldn’t go, gather, or get away like we usually do. While we couldn’t grow in numbers and geography, we did feel like God was inviting us to grow in other ways.
Forward Together emerged as a values-based plan, a bit unconventional compared to a typical strategy, but it was the path we could take in that moment. As we approach the completion of this season, we find ourselves in a unique place once again. When working toward a goal-driven plan, you set a target, execute the strategy, and reach the end point — by that time, you’ve “done it.”
Advancing Mission Community
We focussed on Advancing Mission Community in an efforts to create intentional opportunities for connection between the three branches of our mission — field ministry, RockRidge Canyon, and Mission Services.
COMMUNITY COVENANT
We proudly identify as a Mission Community, where both words are deeply intertwined. We exist with a clear purpose, and we share our lives in this mission alongside others who are likeminded and passionate about the same cause.
But as we near the end of this season, we don’t view it as a finish line. Instead, our hope is that we are fundamentally changed by the journey. Our prayer is that the intentional focus on these five pillars over the past three years will leave a lasting mark on us as a mission, shaping who we are and how we move forward.
One of the most powerful testimonies we can offer the world is how we lift up Christ and love one another. In this season, we took the time to revisit and refresh our Staff Covenant, reaffirming our commitment to these values. We invite you to listen to it here, as it’s read collectively by staff across our mission, and join us in celebrating the heart of what we do.
Scan the QR code to hear our staff read our Young Life Community Covenant.
Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection.
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CORINTHIANS. 3:11-14 (MSG)
Cultivating Sustainability
The reality of being a nonprofit organization dependent on the generosity of others means Cultivating Sustainability will always require our attention. This pillar also focused on equipping staff to be sustained through the various seasons of ministry.
TASTE AND SEE
Sustainability remains a core focus for our team at RockRidge Canyon. In partnership with our Development department, they have achieved remarkable success in fundraising efforts over the past several years. One of the standout initiatives has been the annual Taste and See fundraiser, which launched in 2023. This high-end weekend event combines luxury and fun with
spa treatments, a sauna, golf, and exceptional food and beverages, all wrapped in the radical hospitality RockRidge Canyon is known for. The second event, held in 2024, built on its success and has quickly become a highlight for all who attend. Taste and See is just one of the many efforts contributing to the ongoing fundraising success and long-term sustainability of RockRidge Canyon.
Deepening Discipleship
We wanted to Deepen our commitment to Discipleship in this season — both in the spiritual formation of our staff team and the faith journey of our teen and young adult friends.
ASHNOLA LEADERSHIP LODGE & WORK CREW
We were overjoyed to finally open Ashnola Leadership Lodge in the spring of 2024. This building is dedicated to the discipleship of young people, serving as a place where they can come — whether for a week, a month, a semester, or even a year — to deepen their faith and grow in their relationship with God.
We are grateful to God for His provision and to the generous donors whose support made it possible for this building to be fully funded by the time it opened. A heartfelt thank you to all of you who contributed in meaningful ways to this project.
Scan the QR code to hear about the current and long-term impact of our work crew program.
In July, our first work crew moved in to call Ashnola home for a month! To learn more about their experience and the lasting leadership legacy of the work crew program, be sure to watch this video.
THE GOOD WAY
The Good Way is a Spiritual Formation program designed for cohorts of senior staff, created by Donna Hatasaki, Young Life’s director of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care. The Good Way team graciously offered this program to a group of our Young Life staff in Canada, providing a deeply enriching and meaningful experience for all who participated. We are prayerfully hopeful that the impact of this program will continue to resonate, creating lasting ripple effects across our mission.
Nurturing Innovation
The past three years have pushed us to innovate and adapt in ways we never anticipated. Many of the ideas that were sparked during this time have become integral to our ongoing routines.
THE NATIONAL PRAYER ROOM
In the early days of the pandemic, we gathered every day to pray via Zoom. What started as a simple effort soon evolved into the National Prayer Room — an all-staff, virtual gathering that takes place on the second Tuesday of each month. This has quickly become one of our most cherished practices, and we can’t imagine moving forward without it.
Prioritizing Diversity
We had a lot to learn when it came to Prioritizing Diversity. As we all know, during the pandemic the whole world awakened to so much inequality that is present all around us. We made efforts to learn together in Community Conversations, CQ training, and a Blanket Exercise at our staff conference. Over the last three years, we’ve put a priority on exploring ways to work alongside Indigenous communities. This has looked like spending time listening, learning and then cautiously and humbly entering into relationship and ministry with Indigenous adults and youth. This is a ministry that we’re prayerful will continue to grow in the years to come; we want to be a people who can be trusted.
WYLDLIFE IN TORONTO
Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world, with more than half of its population born outside of Canada. In the 1960s and ‘70s, Young Life was a vibrant presence in the city, but
over the years, its impact had waned. However, we recognized an incredible opportunity: as the world has come to Canada, we now have a unique chance to reach the nations right in our own backyard. In 2022, we took a significant
step forward by hiring Glenn Cook as our city director. Glenn and his team have been working to reestablish and expand Young Life in Toronto. We’re excited to share that our efforts are already bearing fruit: we have a thriving WyldLife Club meeting in midtown, and our staff, leaders, and committee members reflect the rich diversity of the city. Even more exciting, we have three newto-Canada teens from Toronto who are already signed up to attend RockRidge Canyon this summer! We are filled with anticipation for what’s to come as we continue to see God’s work unfold in this vibrant city.
In 2022, Glenn and Becky Cook and their daughter Audrey moved from Albany, NY to Toronto, where Glenn took the position of City Director. In 2023, Becky also joined our staff team, serving as our Field Ministry Administrator. In this video, they share the story of their call and decision to join the mission of Young Life in Canada.
MANDARIN MINISTRY
Our Mandarin Ministry supports teenagers from China who are pursuing their high school education in Canada. Many of these students
live with extended family members and often experience isolation and loneliness. Based in Edmonton, this ministry has experienced remarkable growth, reaching teens across five different high schools in the city. It has become a life-giving community where these young people are discovering the love of Jesus and building meaningful connections. Through this ministry, they are finding hope, belonging, and a deeper understanding of their faith.
SKATELIFE WOMEN
Skatelife is our ministry dedicated to reaching skateboarders across Canada. With a presence in six provinces and an international ministry in Mexico, Skatelife is making a lasting impact on skateboard culture. For many years, the team was made up entirely of men, but they have intentionally worked to diversify and strengthen their leadership. We’re excited to celebrate the addition of Jillian, Carissa, Julia, and Kelsey to the team! Their unique talents and perspectives are bringing new energy and depth to Skatelife, and we're thrilled to see how God will use them to further connect and reach the skateboarding community.
Know Jesus. Know Kids. Make Him Known. Together.
Modeling Incarnational Ministry
Iwent to my first Young Life club in Calgary, Alberta, in the fall of 1980 — my grade 12 year. I remember it so vividly, and I remember the first club talk. I was amazed at how the Young Life leader talked about Jesus in a way that I had never heard before. I went to my second club the very next week. I recall almost nothing about that club except one specific detail. As I walked into the basement, that same Young Life leader greeted me by saying, “Hi David!” I was amazed that he remembered my name!
Over the course of that school year, I got to know Jack really well. In the summer of 1981, he took my brother and I and a group from Calgary to Malibu Club — a Young Life camp — where I became a Christian. He stayed very involved in my family’s life while I was at university and continued to help disciple and encourage me in my faith. He helped me write my first club talk as a volunteer leader. Subsequently, after I graduated from university, he hired me to replace him as the area director for Young Life in Calgary. He performed my wedding, was present at the birth of our first son, and seven months ago, stood in the hospital room with my brother and I as our father passed away. You could say that my Young Life leader really knows me!
Since my earliest days on Young Life staff, one of the verses that has shaped my understanding
of how this mission works is 1 Thessalonians 2:8, “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” Clearly, Jack did that for me and this is what our staff and volunteers endeavor to do for teens today.
The words in this epistle of Paul, written almost 2,000 years ago, are timeless and shape how we view our work. The idea of “incarnational
evangelism” has been at the heart of the Young Life ministry since its inception.
Young Life starts when adult leaders enter into the world of kids. We leave the comfort of our own world and enter into their world, wherever that may be. One thing I have always loved about Young Life is that the leaders are in the lives of kids. We don’t wait for them to clean up, grow up, or show up. Teens want to fit in and belong. Long before they believe, they want to know that this is
YOUNG LIFE’S VISION THROUGH 2030
a safe place for them — a place where they can just enjoy being a teenager. Young Life is a place that helps teens gain a sense of belonging.
We will continue to embrace the Lord’s call on our lives by knowing young people and inviting them into faith and purpose, making disciples who make disciples.
David Thakkar President, Young Life of Canada
Vision
Developing Kingdom Leaders
We believe that every kid deserves to be known by name, seen for who they are, and invited into a lifechanging relationship
with Jesus. This conviction drives everything we do, but it is only possible through leaders who are deeply committed to walking alongside young people in their faith journey. That is why one of the core pillars of the KNOWN campaign is Developing Kingdom Leaders — raising up, equipping, and empowering leaders who reflect
the heart of Christ and are prepared to invest in the next generation.
I have the incredible privilege of serving as the Leadership Development director, a role that allows me to focus on leadership growth at every level — from a Campaigner kid stepping into their first leadership opportunity to the president guiding the mission on a national scale. Our vision for leadership development is simple: to create programs, systems, and environments that allow our people to flourish and grow into the kind of leaders we want reproduced everywhere. This means not just increasing the number of leaders, but deepening the quality of their formation,
ensuring that every leader has the support, training, and mentorship needed to lead with wisdom, humility, and the tangible love of God.
Developing Kingdom Leaders is not just a strategic goal — it is an essential part of the mission. Jesus Himself modeled a leadership development strategy built on relationships, investment, and discipleship. As we seek to do the same, we are committed to providing opportunities for leaders to grow in their calling, deepen their spiritual lives, and strengthen their ability to lead others well.
Over the past three years, we have primarily focused on staff development: honing the Staff Associate program, re-launching the Area Director School, expanding advanced leadership opportunities, and most recently, engaging in executive level training within the international i100 training program. As those programs continue, our attention is shifting to Developing Kingdom Leaders at the volunteer level. This also aligns with the Inspiring a Volunteer Movement pillar of the KNOWN campaign. We believe that by investing in our volunteers, we are equipping more leaders who will have a lasting impact in their communities and beyond. From expanding
leadership cohorts to launching new training initiatives, we are actively investing in the future of this mission. But this is just the beginning. As we look ahead, we remain committed to equipping leaders who will carry the message of Jesus with authenticity, passion, and a deep love for kids.
As we are praying for the next kid to be KNOWN, we are also praying for the next leader because “the harvest is plentiful” (Matthew 9:38).
Adrian Gerber Leadership Development Director, Young Life of Canada
Vision
Inspiring a Volunteer Movement
SO GOD MADE A YOUNG LIFE LEADER
Adapted by our team in Greater Victoria
God said, “I need someone willing to get up before dawn, drive to school to make bagels for students, and spend all morning at the high school. Someone who’ll then drive to university, go to class till three, and return to the high school to stay past 9, watching the musical for the second time — just so a teen can feel seen and known.” So, God made a Young Life leader.
He said, “I need someone with a loud voice, loud enough for the whole basketball team to hear her cheering from the stands. Someone gutsy enough to wade through the crowd, sit with strangers — who she’ll soon call friends. Someone who’ll dress in high school colors, looking like a tomato, just to get strange looks and laughs from her high school friends. Someone who, at the end of the night, is still willing to say, ‘I care for you,’ and mean it.” So, God made a Young Life leader.
God said, “I need someone who can walk into the most daunting, unwelcoming, and intimidating environment in the entire city — lunch time at school. Someone who’ll be there with teens, listen to their drama, watch them eat without commenting on the health of it, and start conversations out of thin air. Someone who, accepted or rejected, will return next week with every name memorized, ready to do it all over again.” So, God made a Young Life leader.
God needed someone willing to dress up in wild costumes, make a fool of themselves in a living room, get pied, clothes-pinned, egged, flourbombed, tortilla-slapped, and body-slammed — again and again. All so that one teen would begin to let down their walls and listen to a club talk. So, God made a Young Life leader.
God said, “I need someone willing to call 37 times until they finally sign up for camp, chase down health forms, and sit on a charter bus for hours, just to give teens the best week of their lives. Someone who’ll be the last one to sleep in the cabin, making sure no one sneaks out. Someone excited to be the loudest, most obnoxious cheerleader at club, so the cabin follows suit. Someone who’ll listen to the club talk, ask hard questions in cabin time, and help them see what life is really about.” So, God made a Young Life leader.
It had to be someone willing to go deep, be intentional, and never cut corners. Someone to plan and pray, laugh and cry, camp and drive, pay and feed, and spend the time to earn the right. Someone to replenish themselves in their own time, and still finish a hard week’s work while balancing their own studies. Someone who’ll talk to teens with the gentleness of a friend, who’ll laugh and then sigh, and respond with a smile when their teens say they want to build a relationship with Jesus Christ. So, God made a Young Life leader.
Going Together
We are excited to announce that the work of Young Life is heading to Nova Scotia! As a national organization, we remain prayerfully committed to reflecting the diversity of our great country — from coast to coast and among all people groups. Our traditional Young Life ministry has a strong presence in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario and our Skatelife team is also active in Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
For the past four years, I’ve been prayerfully focused on our expansion into new provinces and territories. When I became vice president of Field Ministry, I inherited relationships with a group of pastors and parachurch leaders in Nova Scotia who were invested in seeing Young Life reach their communities. I remember one meeting vividly: a local leader shared the heartbreaking reality that over 40% of teens in his area of Cape Breton had been directly or indirectly affected by fentanyl overdoses. That statistic and the emotions surrounding it — sadness, desperation, and a sense of deep need — have stayed with me. While the need is widespread, I will never forget that moment.
Over the years, I’ve visited Nova Scotia numerous times, traveling alongside friends and staff from Young Life. Initially, these visits were focused on prayer and discernment, as we sought God’s direction for this new chapter. We were committed to entering the community as partners and friends, not imposing ourselves. As we listened to God’s calling, we also
listened to our growing network of friends in Nova Scotia. Was Young Life something they wanted for their community? Over time, it became clear that the answer was a resounding “Yes!” from both God and the people there.
Now, with the support of a dedicated and passionate startup committee, we are poised to begin our work in the Maritimes, starting in Halifax. We’re praying for the ministry to grow from there. To support this effort,
Vision
we’ve committed to raising $450K nationally by 2030 to establish a lasting presence for Young Life in the province. Our prayer is that our investment of time, people, and resources will show our long-term commitment to serving Nova Scotia’s youth.
We’ve also begun the search for a regional director and are prayerfully hopeful that by as early as the beginning of 2026, a Young Life staff member will be living and working in Halifax.
On my most recent trip to Nova Scotia, I stayed with a wonderful local couple who are now dear friends. In their garage, they have a wooden sign that reads, “Many Waters Cannot Quench This Love.” The day before, I had visited Peggy’s Cove with another new friend from Nova Scotia. It was a chilly, stormy day, and the force of the ocean on the land — year after year, wave after wave — was awe-inspiring. When I saw that sign, I couldn’t help but think of the ocean I would soon see again on the other side of the country in Victoria. At that moment, I thought of the “Many Waters” surrounding our nation and its 2.8 million teenagers. I was reminded that nothing can “quench this love” — the love God has for teenagers, the love Young Life is working so hard to share with them.
Eric Keillor Vice President | Field Ministry
Thank You
On behalf of our team, Board of Directors, volunteers, and all the teens across Canada that we have the privilege of knowing — thank you for your faithful support to our mission. We simply could not do what we do without your prayers, support, and financial contributions.