High school students in the Portage la Prairie School Division can now apply to be a part of Portage's City Council. 

Councilor Sharilyn Knox says that being a youth councillor is a massive part of the decisions during council meetings.   

"It's always important that a council has a perspective from every demographic that they're doing things to make decisions. So, having youth sit at the table is very important." 

She says that this position as youth counsellor is a yearly role where they take applications from both Portage Colligate Institute and West Park School to encourage today's youth to get involved in municipal politics. 

Knox shares that the role has a lot of responsibilities, but most importantly, they want students to be engaged with the community.  

"We want them to be involved in what's happening in our city, and they're going to be here in the future, so they need to have a voice."  

Knox adds that if students are interested in becoming a youth councillor, they must talk to their principal to receive the application.   

"After applying, they do an application process and then it's decided by the council who's going to be the youth councillor for the year."   

The deadline to apply is at the end of September.