Student-focused & student-led:
equitable, inclusive, and socially just programming.
Our mission.
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.
Our focus areas.
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Indigenous reconciliation.
We recognize that (neo) colonialism continues to perpetuate violence and social inequities against Indigenous Peoples and communities across Turtle Island, or what we now know as Canada. As such, we commit to incorporating the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Calls to Justice in the final report of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in our work.
Our mission is to bring Indigenous reconciliation into every high school classroom in Canada and give students the tools to further reconciliation in their school and local community.
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Fighting anti-Black and anti-Asian racism.
Recent events have demonstrated that racism is not isolated to the United States of America. Though this fact has been part of the lived realities of Black, Asian, and other People of Colour, it is only now that institutions of power are actively listening and looking to address concerns of systemic racism. We commit to working with racialized peoples to inform our work in culturally-sensitive ways.
Our mission is to give students who are Black, Asian, and other People of Colour the tools to safely advocate for greater social inclusion in their schools and local communities.
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Creating safer spaces for 2SLGBTQ+ students.
We realize that gender identity and gender expression are fluid and evolving concepts. High school is a significant period of transition and transformation for students: both academic and personal. We commit to acknowledging and challenging the different ways 2SLGBTQ+ students interact with systems of power and experience oppression. All this will be reflected in our programming and advocacy.
Our mission is to support 2SLGBTQ+ students in challenging systems of power that seek to exclude and discriminate. The goal is always to promote respect for diverse gender identities and expressions.