Babysitting can have a much deeper impact: inspiring youth to become francophone educators and childcare providers in the future, says local youth Zia Richard. Richard—with her project Franco-gardien.nes—is one of this year’s regional (B.C.) winners in Rideau Hall Foundation’s (RHF) Ingenious+ Youth Innovation Challenge. 

“I was really proud of being able to represent francophone communities,” Richard shares her project connects French-speaking babysitters with francophone families. “I’m excited to see the youth who are in high school and studying French now step into the workforce.” 

Canadian Innovation Week (CIW) returns May 11 to 15 with the theme “Local Roots, Global Reach.” Founded in 2018, CIW inspires the next generation of innovators across the country—including through the Ingenious+ Youth Innovation Challenge. Each regional winner receives $1,000 to further develop their innovations. 

“We’ve been so inspired by the youth themselves,” says Jill Clark, senior manager of communications and media relations at RHF. “We don’t necessarily look for an idea that is fully formed or developed—but we do want to see that there is a vision, a deep interest and passion behind it.” 

A personal innovation

The idea for Franco-gardien.nes arose from her lived experience, says Richard. Raised in Vancouver, the innovator grew up in a francophone family. Her father is from France, while her mother is from Quebec. 

“It was interesting growing up in this bubble of Francophone-ness,” she shares of her French-speaking household. Richard also attended a French elementary school. “It felt like this really big part of my identity, but eventually, when I was in high school, I went to an anglophone public school, and it was interesting living both [linguistic worlds].” 

She thought of the idea for Franco-gardien.nes after attending a “Meet the Babysitters” event. Around 12-years-old at the time, Richard recalls feeling excited to meet families. She had just gotten her babysitting certification. 

While the event wasn’t just for francophones, Richard connected with a francophone family who were thrilled to have found a French-speaking babysitter. 

“You speak French, I speak French, and it was really awesome to connect with them in that way,” she recalls. “It got me thinking: How many families do we know, just growing up in the French school system, with young kids who need a lot of babysitters?”

“It was always a battle,” says Adey Richard, Zia’s mother, of her experience finding French-speaking babysitters. “We really enjoyed having babysitters that were able to at least speak a little bit and encourage that [language].” 

Scaling the project 

Aside from connecting francophone families with French-speaking babysitters, Zia’s project offers accessible babysitting training. Part of the Ingenious+ prize money will be used to help youth gain babysitting certifications. 

 “We want to make sure the youth babysitters have their certifications—they feel ready, and they had guidance to work on their CVs,” she shares. 

The next step is holding an event connecting francophone families with these trained, French-speaking babysitters. While the partnership is not yet finalized, Zia is currently in talks with La Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique who may be able to support the initiative with an event space. 

“The beauty of this project is that it can be transferred to any place and any language,” Zia adds. “It doesn’t have to be just a francophone system: anyone can take it and bring it into their community.” 

She sees the project as scalable—its model can be used to encourage children’s development of different languages. The innovator is looking forward to meeting people and facilitating community building. 

“There are so many cool programs that want to support youth, and I’d encourage [the youth] to just seek those out,” Zia adds. “Get your ideas out there…find something that is relevant to you and your experience.” 

“The desire to innovate can lead you to innovate again and again and again—with the right support, encouragement and community,” adds Clark. “We love to see that spark of community, compassion and the desire to innovate for good.” 

Now in its 5th year, Ingenious+ provides youth innovators with financial support, mentorship and a national platform to develop their ideas. National award winners will be celebrated during Canadian Innovation Week. Stay connected with Ingenious+ to learn about next year’s cycle. 

For more information on Canadian Innovation Week, see https://rhf-frh.ca/programs/canadian-innovation-week/. 

For more information on Ingenious+, see https://ingeniousplus.ca/. 

For more information on Zia Richard, see https://ingeniousplus.ca/submission/franco-gardien-nes/.