Canadian politics got a shot of youthful energy during last year’s federal election, thanks to dramatically increased turnout among young voters.

According to a survey released Monday by Statistics Canada, 67 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 24 reported marking a ballot in the Oct. 19 vote. That was up from only 55 per cent in 2011, representing an increase of almost 22 per cent, the largest spike among any voting cohort.

Overall, people under 25 were still least likely to say they voted, however, with 77 per cent of all Canadians reporting they went to the polls.

The data was collected as part of StatsCan’s November labour force survey, and the self-reported numbers were higher than those published by Elections Canada, which found that only 68 per cent of eligible voters took part.

But both agencies found that overall participation was up substantially from the 2011 campaign. And while young Canadians’ apathy has been blamed for a three-decade slide in election turnout figures, experts say this time more youngsters were drawn out by a perfect storm that included a tight three-party race, a concerted get-out-the-vote effort by Elections Canada, and a Liberal party that successfully tailored its messaging to young voters.

The 2015 campaign was one of the most competitive in recent memory, with the Conservatives, NDP, and Liberals trading leads over the course of a 78-day campaign that was the longest in modern Canadian history.

The close race, combined with the extended campaign, meant that “even the least-informed (voters) couldn’t help but learn about something” and get involved, said Jason Roy, an associate professor at Wilfred Laurier University’s political science department.

The stark policy differences offered by the three main parties also contributed to young people’s feeling that their vote would make a difference, he said. “The reality is that this election did have some excitement around it. You did have very distinct choices, very different visions for where the country would head.”

Roy also pointed to Elections Canada programs, including pilot project aimed at boosting turnout among students and other groups that saw the agency set up 71 satellite offices at campuses, Friendship Centres, and YMCAs. More than 70,000 people voted at the special polls between Oct. 5 and 8, and campuses were the busiest locations.

According to Brenda O’Neill, the high youth vote is partially attributable to the Liberal party and Justin Trudeau, who was 43 when he was elected prime minister.

Trudeau’s penchant for taking selfies with young fans has been mocked by critics, but the Liberals’ social media game would have fallen flat if it hadn’t pushing a message that appealed to the Internet generation, said O’Neill, who is the head of the political science department at the University of Calgary.

She said Trudeau’s campaign promised optimism and change after nearly a decade of often austere Conservative rule, which had tremendous appeal for young people.

“It was a social media campaign, backed by a message that people wanted to hear,” O’Neill said. “You need both of those things. You can’t have a vacuous campaign and expect to win with social media. It’s not enough.”

According to an analysis published by UBC Press and Samara Canada last November, the Liberals’ platform was designed to capture the youth vote, mentioning young people 66 times, often in the context of job opportunities and greater participation in public life. By contrast, the Conservatives’ platform mentioned youth only 49 times, despite being twice as long, and 13 of those referred to young people joining gangs or becoming radicalized.

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O’Neill warned that the higher youth turnout of 2015 won’t be repeated in four years’ time if the Liberals fail to follow through on their promise to bring “sunny ways” to Ottawa.

For young people, voting is about the perception that they’re making a difference, she said. “If they find out, well, I did have an impact, I got somebody into power, but it’s more of the same (then they’ll conclude that) clearly, I shouldn’t be doing that.”

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