Canadian young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 are invited to develop a short educational video or poster (or both!) to raise awareness about the impact of cannabis use on adolescent brain development.
To view previous winners, click here.
YMCA Youth Cannabis
Awareness Program
Youth 4 Youth Digital Media Contest
Canadian young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 are invited to develop a short educational video or poster (or both!) to raise awareness about the impact of cannabis use on adolescent brain development.
To view previous winners, click here.
If you have any questions, please contact the Contest Organizer at ycap@ymcagta.org or 519-755-8069.
First place: $2,000
Second place: $1,250
Third place: $750
Fourth place: $100
Fifth place: $100
First place: $750
Second place: $450
Third place: $300
Fourth place: $50
Fifth place: $50
Registration Deadline: July 21, 2022
Submission start date: from August 5, 2022
Deadline for submissions: August 29, 2022
Evaluation of the Contest Organizer's jury, leading to the announcement of the 8 best creations:September 12, 2022
Evaluation of the youth jury, leading to the announcement of the 5 best creations: January 20, 2021
Public Vote period, leading to selection of top 3 submissions:: October 21, 2022
Public voting period, leading to the selection of the 3 best creations: November 18, 2022
Youth Impact judging period to assess the effectiveness of the top 3 creations to determine the winner:November 14, 2022 - November 30, 2022
Award Ceremony and winner announcement: December 15, 2022
All of the Contest’s topics are constructed around the impact recreational cannabis consumption can have on the youth brain and its development. Contestants must answer one of the following questions in their video or poster submission:
To learn more about the facts and guiding principles that youth consider when creating their entries, visit our Contest Fact Sheet.
Contestants are asked to create either a video or poster (or both!) in French or English to participate in the Contest. The poster and video submissions will be evaluated separately and have different requirements. All submissions must use a balanced, neutral and harm reduction focused approach towards cannabis.
To review all of the Contest rules, please review the Rules Documents:
To be eligible to participate in the Contest, contestants must:
The Contest Organizer reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, to disqualify a poster or video it believes does not respect or potentially not respect one or several of the Contest’s official rules.
The Contest Organizer reserves the right to modify, suspend or cancel the Contest for any reason, without any prior notice.
The Contest Organizer reserves the right to refuse, modify or delete a submission that is deemed inappropriate or that does not comply with these rules. All posters and videos submitted for the Contest will become the property of the YMCA of Greater Toronto. However, the creator of the submission will always be credited.
These rules may be changed without notice or reason including, if necessary, to comply with any applicable law. By entering this Contest, participants agree to abide by these rules and acknowledge that the Contest Organizer shall not be responsible for any damages, costs, demands, claims or losses of any kind, incurred by any contestant as a result of participation in this Contest.
All content included in the poster or video submission must be original. The submission must not infringe upon or violate any laws or any third-party rights. This includes but is not limited to: copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights. Submissions must not lead to any cause of action including libel, defamation, privacy violation, contract breach or tort. The participant must obtain all necessary permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers of moral rights and other approvals from third parties necessary to use the submission, in whole or in part (including but not limited to: all copyright holders and all individuals appearing in the video or poster submission), without limitation, to reproduce, make derivatives, edit, modify, translate, distribute, transmit, publish, license and broadcast the video submission worldwide, by any means. Any and all such permissions, licenses, clearances, releases, waivers of moral rights and approvals must be attached to the submission.
Submissions from contestants who have previously participated in YMCA Youth for Youth Gambling Education Program’s Digital Media Contest from August 2017 to July 2020 are permitted.
Submissions must not contain, illustrate, comment or target, without exception, any of the following:
Youth Cannabis Awareness Program, YCAP, takes a harm reduction approach towards recreational cannabis use. We don’t make value judgements regarding recreational cannabis use, rather we seek to minimize risks associated with Cannabis use by providing youth with the most accurate and unbiased information.
Ages 15-18
Ages 18-24
Community Partners
Instructions for Registration Process
Registration for the contest will begin on June 14, 2022. All contestants must register online prior to submitting their video or poster. If you are registering as a team, ALL TEAM MEMBERS must complete a registration form. After registering, contestants will be sent educational material and resources to help them create their submission! The Contest Organizer will also reach out to each contestant after registration to provide support and answer any questions.
Instructions for Submission Process
Contestants will submit their final project via Google Forms. Only one submission is required per team. After submission, contestants will be required to complete an evaluation survey and an exit phone call. The evaluation process of the posters and videos will begin immediately after the submission deadline.
Upon final submission, contestants will be required to complete an exit survey. The questions of this survey are designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Contest. The evaluation components are led by a third party and participants’ responses will not impact their submission evaluation in any way. The third-party firm will only share information with regard to whether contestants have completed the evaluation component with Contest Organizer.
If you have questions, please contact the Contest Organizer at ycap@ymcagta.org.
The Contest’s evaluation process consists of five distinct stages.
In the first stage, the Contest Organizer reviews all poster and video submissions to ensure they meet the Contest’s requirements. All submissions that meet these requirements will then be evaluated by the Contest Organizer jury.
The Contest Organizer Jury is made up of digital media experts and prevention specialists, and is responsible for evaluating the submissions that were deemed eligible by the Contest Organizer. Based on their evaluations the Top 8 poster and video submissions will be shortlisted and move onto the second stage.
Upon entering the second stage, the top 8 submissions will be evaluated by a jury made up of youth (age 15-18) representing Canada’s Provinces and Territories. Based on the youth jury’s evaluations, the top 5 submissions will be shortlisted and posted online for the public vote.
The public vote will occur over a week-long period, during which the public is invited to view the top 5 video and posters and vote for their favorite. The posters and videos that will move onto the top 3 will be those that receive the most support from the public. The top 3 submissions will then move onto the final evaluation stage: The Youth Impact Survey.
During the Youth Impact Survey, the top 3 poster and video submission will be shown to high school aged youth across Canada. Based on the students’ evaluations, the top 3 poster and video submissions will be placed in first, second and third place. The prizes will then be presented at the Award Ceremony in March 2021.
Your personal safety and that of your actors, camera crew and other individuals involved in the making of the video or poster must be maintained. Do not put anyone at risk during the making of the video or poster. If you show dangerous tasks in your video or video, you must follow all safety regulations and take all necessary precautions to prevent any injuries. Each participant agrees to defend, indemnify and save harmless the YMCA of Greater Toronto, its employees, officers, directors and agents as well as the jurors from any and all lawsuits, claims, losses, injuries, death, damages and expenses (including where permitted, any reasonable legal costs) arising out of the participant’s video or poster, or in connection with the latter in any way, and to release the YMCA of Greater Toronto, its employees, officers, directors and agents as well as the jurors from any liability in connection with the Contest (including the awarding of a prize).
By participating in the Contest and by submitting a video or poster, each participant:
Participants of the YCAP-Y4Y Digital Media Contest will be recognized at an Award Ceremony. The Award Ceremony not only celebrates the accomplishments and hard work of contestants, but also acknowledges the efforts made by community partners, contest organizer jury members and youth jury members. It is an opportunity to bring together and celebrate youth from across Canada.