How to engage young voters in the upcoming federal election [Video]

In the last federal election, young people aged 18 to 24 had the lowest turnout of all age groups — 47 per cent, per Elections Canada figures.

In order to increase youth turnout this election, students and experts say political parties should tailor their campaigns to younger voters. 

Parties should first focus on educating new voters on the electoral process, says Ethan Evans, a fourth-year political science student at McMaster University in Hamilton. 

“When I started my post-secondary education, I didn’t even fully understand which issues were provincial and federal,” Evans said. 

His classmate, Jean-Luc Lambert agrees. He says many of his friends outside school don’t follow politics at all — either because they don’t think their vote matters, or because they believe political parties aren’t targeting them enough in their campaigns. 

“My friends have no idea what’s going on,” Lambert said. “They often hear different opinions from each political …