Ontario Young Liberals

Ontario Young Liberals

Abbreviation	OYL
Formation	1971
Headquarters	10 St. Mary Street, Toronto, ON
Location	Ontario, Canada
President	Najva Amin
Parent organization	Ontario Liberal Party Liberal Party of Canada
Website	oyl.org

The Ontario Young Liberals (OYL) is the official youth wing of the Ontario Liberal Party, and the Liberal Party of Canada in Ontario. The OYL's membership includes all members of the Ontario Liberal Party and the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) aged 25 and under. The organization is divided into campus and riding clubs and led by a 16-member executive board. The OYL is unique among partisan youth wings in Canada, as it's made up of both federal and provincial Young Liberals. While it represents the Young Liberals of Canada in Ontario, the OYL is an autonomous organization, not a subsidiary of the YLC (as is the case elsewhere in Canada). The OYL is the largest youth political organization in Ontario, and the largest provincial Young Liberal organization in Canada.

Founded in 1971, the OYL was known as the Ontario New Liberals until the mid-1980s. The organization has consistently proven itself be a training ground for budding politicians and political organizers. Many prominent politicians and staffers are OYL alumni, some of whom have made significant contributions to the organization. These include:

Since the Liberal Party allocates specific number of delegate spots for campus liberal associations at its national convention, key players of the OYL wielded unique influence in the party’s leadership selection as it has the largest number of campus associations under its jurisdiction. OYL had been a fierce battleground during federal leadership races from the early 80s to 2006. The Paul Martin leadership campaign was particularly notorious for hostile take over of campus liberal associations leading up to the 1990 and 2003 contests.

The OYL executive is made up of 16 OYL members elected to one-year terms by the membership at the OYL Annual General Meeting. The structure of the Executive consists of a President, Executive Vice-President, Vice-President of Federal Affairs, Vice-President of Provincial Affairs, Treasurer, Riding Director, Student Director, Policy Director, Communications Director, Recruitment Director and 6 Regional Coordinators.

The current executive was acclaimed at the 2016 AGM held in Guelph, Ontario.

The OYL recognizes six distinct regions of the province. Each region is represented by a Regional Coordinator. Each region is further broken down by areas, although these area divisions are seldom used. The six regions are: Northern Region, Eastern Region, Central Region, Toronto Region, South Central Region, and Southwestern Region.