Toronto youth living in social housing can now have their voices heard thanks to a new initiative by Toronto Community Housing.

The government agency launched its first-ever youth council Thursday, with youth tenants living in public housing electing 120 of their peers as youth representatives.

The representatives range in age from 14 to 28, and will represent 11 neighbourhoods across the city, including Lawrence Heights and Regent Park.

The representatives will serve for a two-year term, with each area receiving a budget of $3,000 to plan community-based initiatives and programs.

In total the representatives will serve 22,000 youth living in community housing. "If we're more aware of our community rights and our community programs, then we can advocate much more better for those causes [that are important to us],” said Yunis Hassan Abdulle, 25, one of the newly-elected representatives for the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood.

"We can have things fixed that much faster."

Abdulle said the youth will be responsible for communicating the concerns of their parents and families, many of whom who face language barriers, and making sure there are more peer mentors for young people in the communities.

Keiko Nakamura, CEO of Toronto Community Housing said she expects the new representatives won’t just be involved in issues specific to young people.

"They may also start advocating in terms of some of the building repairs that they also want to see in their communities, different approaches to building repairs and so forth," Nakamura said.