Group of young people sitting in an audience, smiling, raising their hands, and cheering at an event or performance.

The Youth Matter Symposium is an annual gathering dedicated to empowering youth through mental wellness, connection, and support. Now celebrating its 5th anniversary, the event will bring together approximately 300 youth from 12 Saskatchewan communities, along with teachers, support staff, and mental health counsellors. Throughout the day, inspiring speakers will share their stories of resilience to encourage youth to speak up about mental wellness, while breakout sessions and workshops will provide tools for building lifelong mental health strategies. With a focus on arts, culture, music, and movement, the symposium creates a safe and inclusive space where young people can learn, connect, and be reminded that their voices and well-being truly matter.

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Vision + Mission.

To bring together youth in connection and community in support of mental health. Empowering youth to step into leadership roles and find agency to be change makers for the future.

Our 2025 Featured Keynote Speakers

Kyla Thomson

Kyla Thomson carries forward the courageous spirit of her daughter, Bella, known as ‘Bella Brave’ by her 7 million TikTok followers.

Bella passed away on July 14, 2024 after courageously facing multiple rare diseases. Bella was a bright light to millions of people encouraging bravery and kindness through her own difficult journey. As a passionate advocate for medical families, Kyla, Bella’s mother, transforms her grief into purpose, sharing their powerful story and inspiring youth to find strength in adversity.

Martin Lockett

Martin Lockett is a writer and speaker whose words have impacted thousands of people, even before leaving prison. Martin served almost 18 years for manslaughter, caused by an accident one New Year’s eve where he drank excessively and drove through a stop light, colliding with a car carrying three people.

Upon learning that the two people who died that night were volunteers in the drug and alcohol recovery community, Martin chose to honor them by dedicating his life to helping others through addiction counseling and drinking and driving prevention.