Gen(Z)AI: Digital Engagement Companion Report

Résumé analytique

From November 2025 to April 2026, Gen(Z)AI—Canada’s first ever youth assembly on AI—engaged young people across Canada in a national dialogue on the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through four in-person Forums held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Halifax, one hundred participants aged 17-23 years old worked alongside experts to examine the social, ethical, and policy implications of AI and to develop recommendations aimed at the Canadian federal government on the intersection of AI and online harms.

To broaden participation beyond the Forum participants, the recommendations developed during each Forum were published on Make.org’s online Dialogue Platform. This allowed young people and AI experts from across the country to react to, vote on, and comment on the recommendations.

Overall, the results of the digital engagement phase show strong support for the recommendations produced during in-person Youth Forums. Participants consistently expressed high levels of agreement with the proposals developed by the assemblies. The Dialogue also revealed a widespread demand for stronger protections, greater transparency, and more meaningful user control over AI systems.

In addition to validating the recommendations, participants contributed a range of concrete and innovative ideas to improve them. Many proposed stronger opt-out rights, stricter limits on data collection and surveillance, mandatory labeling of AI-generated content, enhanced digital literacy initiatives, and tougher legal consequences for companies that misuse personal data. Others advocated for more restrictive approaches, including limiting or banning certain forms of generative AI, particularly for children and minors.

Together, the Youth Forums and online Dialogue demonstrate the value of involving young people directly in shaping AI governance. The findings highlight a clear desire for AI systems that prioritize privacy, safety, transparency, accountability, and human well-being. The decision to blend in-person citizens’ assembly methodology with scaled digital engagement allowed the project to combine deliberative depth with broader national reach. In doing so, Gen(Z)AI offers a model for AI governance that is not only evidence-based, but publicly grounded and responsive to the experiences of young people's lived experiences with AI systems.