What a year it’s been!

Millions of Canadians took action on Change.org in 2015, and the results are inspiring:

2015 was the year two 13-year-old Ontario girls and thousands of supporters helped change countless lives in the future by fighting back against sexual violence: from now on, teenagers will learn about affirmative consent in Ontario schools.

2015 was the year Canadians rallied to cut through red tape and help people out of nightmare situations: from now on, a grieving widower and father will stay in Canada with his young daughter; a 4-year-old and his parents will soon be reunited; and a World War II veteran and his son will be able to share memories of a once-in-a-lifetime D-Day ceremony overseas.

2015 was the year tens of thousands of you convinced corporate giants of the global food industry to treat animals more ethically:from now on, Canadian companies Maple Leaf Foods and Saputo Inc. will enforce groundbreaking new animal welfare policies.

2015 was the year you spoke to power, and power spoke back: from now on, political leaders will hear directly from the people who are affected by their decisions, and the people will expect answers — just like you did during the federal election campaign, when party leaders including the new prime minister Justin Trudeau began responding directly to Change.org petitions.

From now on, because of what you did in 2015: girls around the world will get a better education; Amazon.ca won’t sell a murderer’s book; the census will be back,  tampons won’t be taxed; Canadians will hold the government to commitments won to re-open the Kitsilano Coast Guard base and ban plastic microbeads; Holiday Inn won’t promote big game hunting; and of course…Hamiltonians will go tobogganing as much as they want!

And that’s just a small sample. In all, over 900,000 Canadians signed 241 petitions that achieved their goal in 2015.

That’s a victory every 36 hours!

Petitions work because behind every one of them are people like you:

People who choose to right wrongs, and fight injustice;

People who choose to change lives, and alter the course of history;

People who choose to act.

Our job at Change.org is to provide the tools and support you need to create the change you want to see. And like you, we’re only getting started. In 2016, stay tuned to hear about exciting new features that willhelp you change your community, your city, your country, or the world.

That’s what you can expect from us. And what do we want from you? We’d like you to have wonderful time ringing in the new year…and, when you have a moment, to think about this question: