The YMCA Summer Work Student Exchange is a national exchange program coordinated by the YMCA
and funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage. For six weeks over the summer, the exchange
takes 16- and 17-year-old youth (from Canada) to another province where they stay with a local host,
hold a paid job, and practice their second official language. The youth also participate in weekly program
activities organized by the Local Coordinator in their new community.