Job Description

Empower students to make their schools and communities safer, more equitable, and inclusive.

The Federation of Canadian Secondary Students / Fédération des élèves du secondaire au Canada (FCSS-FESC) is an entirely non-partisan youth-led charity that aims to inform, educate, and ultimately empower high school students to foster social justice initiatives in their schools and local communities.

We use a mutual aid model where students are at the centre of our programs and initiatives. We encourage students to challenge systems of power that perpetuate social disadvantage and actively ground our work in an anti-oppressive and intersectional framework.

As an Education Policy Researcher focused on Advocacy and Mobilization, you will consider how the FCSS-FESC can be at the vanguard of of public education advocacy in Canada. As part of this role, you will conduct research into provincial and federal legislation, school board policies, and classroom-level practices to assess (1) the rules and limits for advocacy across Canada, (2) where the greatest needs exist for advocacy and mobilization in public education, and (3) how the FCSS-FESC can better structure itself to deploy advocacy campaigns on public education issues across Canada. The fundamental question will be: "What public education issues can the FCSS-FESC move the needle on, and how do we effectively do so?"

Responsibilities and Tasks

1. Map the advocacy landscape: Conduct a comparative scan of provincial, territorial, and federal policies affecting student advocacy and civic engagement in public education, identifying key variations, constraints, and opportunities across jurisdictions.
2. Identify priority issue areas: Analyze research, student-led input, and policy gaps to pinpoint a short list of public education issues where national or cross‑provincial student advocacy could have the greatest impact.
3. Develop actionable advocacy pathways: Translate research findings into clear, realistic advocacy strategies (e.g., campaigning, coalition-building, policy engagement) that are appropriate for youth-led, non-partisan organizing.
4. Evaluate organizational readiness: Assess FCSS-FESC’s current structures, resources, and decision-making processes to identify what is needed to effectively launch and sustain advocacy and mobilization efforts.
5. Produce practical research outputs: Prepare concise briefing notes, issue mappings, or decision-making tools that can be readily used by student leaders, staff, and volunteers beyond the contract period.
6. Develop campaign readiness: Create advocacy toolkits and packages that can be adapted and deployed on short notice while also reflecting best practices in terms of public policy dialogue and development, advocacy, and mobilization.
7. Support knowledge transfer: Document findings, assumptions, and recommendations in a way that supports future researchers and enables FCSS-FESC to build long-term advocacy capacity after the contract ends.

Qualifications

Mandatory Qualifications

This job will be part of the Canada Summer Jobs Program. As per the requirements of the program, youth hired need to meet the following criteria. Please ensure you review the below before applying:

• be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment*;
• be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment**; and,
• have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations.

*The youth must be 15 years of age at the beginning of the employment period. The youth may be more than 30 years of age at the end of the employment period as long as the youth was 30 at the beginning of the employment period.

**International students are not eligible participants. International students include anyone who is temporarily in Canada for studies and who is not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person who has been granted refugee status in Canada. Youth awaiting a refugee status ruling, as well as those who hold a temporary visitor visa, youth visa or work visa are ineligible. As the objective of the Canada Summer Jobs program is to support youth entering the Canadian labour market, the temporary nature of an international student’s time in Canada does not allow for a long-term connection to the labour market.

Ideal Qualifications

• A post-secondary degree in communications, advocacy, mobilization, social justice, education, or a related field (either in-progress or completed).
• Some experience conducting research, analysis, or measurement of advocacy campaign success or outcomes (0.5 to 2 years).
• Familiarity with the Canadian secondary education system (0.5 to 2 years).
• Strong analytical skills and a demonstrated ability to interpret and synthesize information (1 to 4 years).
• Experience producing high-quality written reports, guides, or tools for student audiences (1 to 4 years).
• The ability to manage timelines independently and balance multiple tasks (1 to 4 years).
• Clear and respectful communication skills with attention to inclusive and affirming language (1 to 4 years).

Additional Information

• Work location: remote/from home
• Hours: 35 hours per week (flexible scheduling)
• Pay: $17.60 per hour
• Contract: 8 weeks (start on June 1, 2026)
• Number of positions: 1

Equity Statement

At the FCSS-FESC, we are committed to building and fostering an environment where our Members, volunteers, and staff feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion enables us to make our student advocacy work and services better for everyone. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and other racialized people, people with disabilities, people from gender and sexually diverse communities, linguistic minorities in their respective province/territory, and/or people with intersectional identities. We also recognize that lived experience can serve as a substitute for formal education or workplace experience. We invite candidates with relevant lived experience to identify this in their application.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

The FCSS-FESC does not use artificial intelligence to screen, rank, or assess applications. All applications are reviewed by a member of the hiring team, and audit records of who reviewed which application are retained. As an organization committed to social justice, this includes (1) environmental justice and (2) fair compensation for artists/authors. We believe that any use of artificial intelligence is antithetical to this commitment, and we therefore discourage the use of AI by applicants, volunteers, and staff.

Cover Letters

Cover letters are optional and there is no specific place to upload one in our application. Instead, applicants are welcome to share specific information in the "Message to Hiring Manager" field, but are absolutely not required to do so. We do not penalize applications that do not include a message to the hiring manager.