A central component of a healthy democracy is the participation of its citizens in the electoral process. Many argue that voting is the most basic responsibility of our citizenship.

Yet, the decline in electoral participation has been a phenomenon observed in many western democracies throughout the past two decades. Specifically in Canada, voter turnout reached an all-time low of 59 per cent in the 2008 federal election and turnout in most provinces in hovering above or below 50 per cent.

It has become increasingly evident that this trend can be attributed to low levels of electoral participation among young Canadians. This is illustrated by the fact that only 4 out of 10 citizens aged 18 to 24 cast a ballot in the 2008 Canadian federal election.

Student Vote believes that one of the best ways to approach this challenge is to reach young Canadians early in life and give them an opportunity to cultivate the habits of informed and engaged citizenship.

Young Canadians should graduate high school with the interest, knowledge and skills necessary for effective citizenship. They must know why to vote, how to vote, and most importantly have a strong enough faith and commitment in their democracy that no matter happens, they don't give up on it.

That's what the Student Vote program is about.

Following the 2011 federal election, an independent evaluation of the Student Vote Program (SVP) was conducted by Elevate Consulting on behalf of Elections Canada. The 2011 Federal SVP Evaluation was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the SVP in achieving its civic education objectives among elementary and secondary school students, teachers and parents. The evaluation was based primarily on surveys of participating students, teachers and parents, who were compared to a control group of non-participating teachers and students who had taught or taken a class related to civics during the 2010–2011 school year.

The 2011 Federal SVP Evaluation's main findings include:

• SVP had a significant positive impact on students' knowledge of politics and the electoral process.
• SVP is having a positive impact on political knowledge, discussion with parents, interest in politics and civic duty, which are all important predictors of voting.
• SVP is well received by teachers, who praise the materials and support they receive from Student Vote. Overall, teacher satisfaction was very high, with 95 per cent of participating teachers saying they would very likely participate in the program in the future.
• Teachers felt that their own knowledge and confidence in teaching civic education had increased as a result of the SVP.
• Both teachers and parents report that the SVP has a significant, positive civics-related impact on students.
• Over 60 per cent of parents reported an increase in their own political interest and knowledge as a result of their child's participation in the program. The SVP also provided their family with more opportunities to learn about and discuss politics. Among parents who voted, 20 per cent reported that their child's participation in the SVP positively affected their decision to vote.