Inspiring youth to create and implement projects focused on kindness in their schools and communities. The Canadian Kindness Leaders program provides children and youth in schools with the training, toolkits & resources to accomplish their very own kindness projects. CKL is delivered by the WITS Programs Foundation. 

Featured Projects in 2021 & 2022

CKL was piloted from 2020 to 2022 in 35 schools in BC, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. See their amazing ideas and projects below.

Cayoosh Elementary School

Cayoosh Elementary School

Lillooet, British Columbia

 Clinton Elementary School

Clinton Elementary School

Burnaby, British Columbia

 Dr. K.A. Clark School

Dr. K.A. Clark School

Fort McMurray, Alberta

École Alternative Le Baluchon

École Alternative Le Baluchon

Laval, Quebec

 École Dickinsfield School

École Dickinsfield School

Fort McMurray, Alberta

École George Jay School

École George Jay School

Victoria, British Columbia

École Héritage Immersion School

École Héritage Immersion School

St-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba

Ecole John Stubbs Memorial

École John Stubbs Memorial

Victoria, British Columbia

École Franco-Nord

École Franco-Nord

Prince George, British Columbia

Ecole Victor Brodeur

École Le Rucher

Mascouche, Quebec

École des Pionniers-de-Maillardville

École des Pionniers-de-Maillardville

Port Coquitlam, British Columbia

 Ecole primaire Terry Fox Elementary School

École primaire Terry Fox Elementary School

Pierrefonds, Quebec

Ecole Victor Brodeur

École Taché

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Ecole Victor Brodeur

École Victor Brodeur

Victoria, British Columbia

 George M. Murray Elementary

George M. Murray Elementary

Lillooet, British Columbia

James Bay Community School

James Bay Community School

Victoria, British Columbia

James Bay Community School

Joe A Ross School

Opaskwayak, Manitoba

 Juniper School

Juniper School

Thompson, Manitoba

 Juniper School

Lord Selkirk Elementary School

Vancouver, British Columbia

Marigold Elementary School

Marigold Elementary School

Victoria, British Columbia

 Juniper School

Our Lady of Victory School

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Quadra Elementary School

Quadra Elementary School

Victoria, British Columbia

 Quinson Elementary School

Quinson Elementary School

Prince George, British Columbia

 Quinson Elementary School

Shoreline Community Middle School

Victoria, British Columbia

 St. Mary’s School

St. Mary’s School

Okotoks, Alberta

 Stevenson-Britannia School

Stevenson-Britannia School

Winnipeg, Manitoba

St. Ignatius School

St. Ignatius School

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Tillicum Elementary

Tillicum Elementary

Victoria, British Columbia

Tillicum Elementary

Tsay Keh Dene School

Prince George, British Columbia

Victoria School for Ideal Education

Victoria School for Ideal Education

Victoria, British Columbia

Teacher Resources

Looking to launch a Kindness based project at your school?

Developing Canadian Kindness Leaders Projects through Design Thinking

Implementing Canadian Kindness Leaders in schools

Available at witsprogram.ca, CKL Modules include a resource guide includes implementation guidelines and links to many activities from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Adolescent Kit for Innovation and Expression (see below).

The Adolescent Kit is a global resource designed specifically for young people to learn about themselves and their peers, explore issues important to them, and create arts-based and action-oriented projects.

Active
Listening

PDF 82kb

Agreeing to Group Rules

PDF 1.0Mb

Animal, Insect, Bird Stories

PDF 112kb

Brainstorming Solutions

PDF 75kb

Choosing a Challenge Topic

PDF 73kb

Collaborative Decision Making

PDF 73kb

Community
Dialogue

PDF 72kb

Compromise
Chart

PDF 20kb

Create a Pitch

PDF 75kb

Forming Problem & Opportunity Statements

PDF 20kb

Gallery Walk Tool

PDF 384kb

Household, Friend and Community Dialogue

PDF 118kb

Humans of our Household

PDF 101kb

I Am, I Have, I Can (Online)

PDF 104kb

I Am, I Have,
I Can

PDF 70kb

Imagine a
Better Place

PDF 24kb

Imagine an
Invention

PDF 26kb

Insight
Statements

PDF 73kb

Learning and Mood Pre-Check

PDF 968kb

Learning and Mood Post-Check

PDF 981kb

My Journey
Map

PDF  79kb

Our challenges, Our Solutions

PDF 398kb

Our Environment (Online)

PDF 178kb

Our
Environment

PDF 74kb

Ourselves on the Inside and Outside (Online)

PDF 109kb

Ourselves on the Inside and Outside

PDF 70kb

Plan a
Project

PDF 73kb

Practicing Interviewing Skills

PDF 111kb

Project Plan
Template

PDF 110kb

Project Timeline Tree

PDF 71kb

Prototyping

PDF 74kb

Recognizing Resources

PDF 85kb

Road Map

PDF 75kb

Seeing from Different Perspectives

PDF 78kb

Ten Key
Approaches

PDF 322kb

Ten Key
Competencies

PDF 76kb

Videos

Check out what the WITS and LEADS programs are all about!

Eligibility

You must meet the criteria…

  • You are in a Canadian school
  • You have students who are between 9 and 14 years old

Your project will be judged using the following four metrics.

Your project must…

Focus on Kindness

Does the project focus on how people can be kind to one another?

Feature Community Involvement

Does the project involve your whole class, school, or community?

Be Inclusive and Accepting of Diversity

Does your project include everyone in the class, school, or community no matter what their differences or abilities are?

Connect with being Canadian

Does the project encourage Canadians to be kinder, inclusive, and more accepting of one another?

Involve Your School

What are the requirements in order to participate?

Get Started!

About Us

The WITS Program Foundation is excited to continue with Canadian Kindness Leaders!

Canadian Kindness Leaders (CKL) engages Canadian youth with projects of kindness and inclusion in provinces across Canada. In phase 1, we train youth in the evidence-based WITS LEADS curriculum in conjunction with exploring an all-encompassing theme of kindness. In phase 2, we encourage and facilitate youth-led social action micro-projects that promote the values of lateral kindness, empathy, and inclusion.

A series of three photographs of children engaged in their community. They are doing work that helps the environment, the communtiy and each other.

Participating schools received:

  • WITS LEADS materials including books, lesson plans, posters, bookmarks, and pencils
  • Year long online subscription to the WITS Programs Foundation
  • Funding to help with costs of social action micro-projects
  • Featured on our platform for sharing kids’ kindness projects and initiatives
  • Follow up support as needed

Brought to you by WITS Programs Foundation

The WITS™ group of programs brings together schools, families and community members to help children learn effective strategies to deal with peer victimization. We partner with Pink Shirt Day, celebrated annually on the last Wednesday of February. The WITS Programs Foundation is a nonprofit society and registered Canadian Charity.

The logo for the WITS Group of Programs.

COVID-19

CKL will operate according to the health guidelines of the respective provinces involved. Please contact us if you need more details.

CKL is made possible in part by these supporters: