UYAC
Become a member

Uzbek Youth Association of Canada

A national community for Uzbek students and young professionals across Canada: people who understand where you come from, and believe in where you’re going.

Become a member Read our story

Free to join. Open to Uzbek youth anywhere in Canada. Incorporated as a non-profit and launching now.

There are people who understand where I come from. There are people who believe in where I’m going. And I have a community I can grow with.

What we’re building

UYAC is new. This is what it is for, in the words we’ll be held to.

Vision

A strong, connected and empowered generation of Uzbek youth in Canada who are proud of their heritage, supportive of one another, and actively contributing to their communities and society.

Mission

To enrich, encourage, support and empower Uzbek youth in Canada by creating opportunities for connection, mentorship, personal and professional development, cultural engagement, community service and mutual support.

So that Uzbek youth, regardless of where they live in Canada, their family background, or where they are in their journey, have a community they can turn to, learn from, contribute to and grow with.

Where we are today

An organization at the start

UYAC is incorporated as a non-profit and is pre-launch. Today it has a founding team, a legal structure and a plan. It does not yet have members, chapters or a track record, and we would rather tell you that than imply otherwise.

The first people to join will shape what this becomes. Membership is opening now. A founding executive committee is being recruited. Chapters will form in the cities where members are. If you want to be part of the beginning, this is it.

Register as a member, apply to the executive committee, or write to us with anything at all.

Updates

Announcements, essays on Uzbek-Canadian life, and guides for students. Written by us, for you.

    What UYAC will provide

    Eight areas of work. One of them comes first, because the others depend on it.

    A community of belonging

    Somewhere you don’t have to explain yourself. A place to be fully Uzbek and fully Canadian at the same time, with people who know exactly what that means.

    Everything else we do is built on this. Members will be able to find each other by city, by school, by interest and by what they need, and the organization will hold the door open for the next person.

    Mentorship and guidance

    We’re building a program that matches Uzbek youth with Uzbek-Canadians who have been where they are going. Mentors will help with:

    • University applications and scholarships
    • Careers and entrepreneurship
    • Settlement and the first years in Canada
    • Navigating Canadian institutions
    • Leadership

    Networking and relationship building

    Introductions that would otherwise never happen: between students in different cities, between graduates and professionals, between people who share a hometown and have never met. Online first, in person as chapters form.

    Academic and professional development

    Workshops, resources and peer support for the specific questions Uzbek youth face here: credentials, applications, interviews, the unwritten rules. Practical, and written by people who had to learn them.

    Celebrating Uzbek youth

    Recognizing achievement in study, work, art and service, and telling those stories so that younger members can see what is possible.

    Cultural connection and preservation

    Language, music, food, holidays and history, carried forward by young people and shared generously with the wider Canadian public.

    Community support and mutual aid

    A network that shows up when a member needs help: practical advice, a place to stay, a translation, a referral, or someone to talk to.

    Community service and giving back

    Volunteering as Uzbek Canadians, in Uzbek communities and in the broader communities where members live.

    A national network

    Chapters will form where members are. Seven cities are the starting points. None is operating yet.

    Vancouver Calgary Edmonton Winnipeg Toronto Ottawa Montreal Open ring: chapter forming. No chapter is active yet.

    Open ring: chapter forming. No chapter is active yet, and we will only fill a ring when one is.

    • Toronto Forming
    • Ottawa Forming
    • Montreal Forming
    • Calgary Forming
    • Edmonton Forming
    • Vancouver Forming
    • Winnipeg Forming
    • Your city Open

    Start a chapter

    A chapter starts with one or two people who want to gather Uzbek youth in their city and are willing to be the first point of contact. We will provide the structure, the name, the national network and help with the first event. You provide the city.

    If that is you, apply to the executive committee and choose chapter development, or just write to us and say where you are.

    Start a chapter in your city

    Building bridges around the world

    Uzbek youth are organizing in many countries. We intend to be the Canadian end of that network.

    UYAC will seek partnerships with Uzbek and Central Asian youth and student organizations abroad: in Uzbekistan, across Europe, the United States, and wherever Uzbek students have gathered. The aim is practical. Shared events, exchanges of speakers and ideas, a warm introduction for a student moving between countries, and a Canadian point of contact that international organizations, embassies and universities can rely on.

    Canada is well placed to be a connecting hub: a large and growing Uzbek community, universities that draw students from across Central Asia, and a public culture that takes diaspora organizations seriously.

    If you lead or represent an organization abroad, or an institution in Canada that works with international students, we would like to hear from you. Tell us who you are and what you have in mind. We reply to every message.

    Contact us about a partnership

    Values

    Eight words we intend to be judged by.

    Community
    No Uzbek young person in Canada should have to figure things out alone.
    Inclusion
    Every Uzbek youth is welcome, whatever their region, language, faith, background or path.
    Culture
    We carry our heritage forward with pride, and share it generously.
    Growth
    We help each other become more capable, more confident and more ambitious.
    Excellence
    We hold a high standard in everything we put our name to.
    Service
    We give back, to our community and to the country we live in.
    Integrity
    We say what is true, do what we promise, and keep trust.
    Connection
    We bring people together across cities, generations and borders.

    Get involved

    Three ways in. Membership is the one most people want, and it takes two minutes.

    Become a member

    Free. Open to Uzbek youth across Canada. Questions? Just email contact@uzbekyouth.ca

    Membership costs nothing and asks nothing of you beyond telling us who you are. It means you will hear first when mentorship opens, when a chapter starts near you, and when there is something worth showing up for. It also means you count: the more people who register, the more seriously partners, mentors and institutions take Uzbek youth in Canada.

    What are you interested in? (choose any)
    Languages you speak

    We reply to every registration. Your details stay with UYAC.

    Join the executive committee

    Founding, volunteer roles with real responsibility. Questions? Email contact@uzbekyouth.ca

    The executive committee is the group that will build UYAC from the ground up: operations, finance, events, communications, partnerships, mentorship, cultural programming, fundraising, chapters, and the website you are reading. These are unpaid, founding positions. They come with real work, real decisions and your name on what gets built.

    We are looking for people who follow through, who can write a clear email, and who have started something before, however small. Where you live in Canada does not matter. The committee works nationally.

    Support our work

    UYAC is run by volunteers and funded, for now, by its founders. Contributions go to programming, events, the mentorship program, scholarships in time as we grow, and the modest costs of keeping an organization running. If you are an established Uzbek-Canadian professional or a friend of the community and would like to help in this way, we would be grateful.

    Support our work

    Write to us. Really.

    Right now this is the most important thing on the site. Every message is welcome and every message gets a reply.

    Reach out for:

    • Advice or guidance
    • An introduction
    • A question about UYAC
    • A partnership
    • Media and interviews
    • No particular reason at all

    Or email us directly

    contact@uzbekyouth.ca