In Québec (Canada), public and policy discourses about “drop-outs” and young people in situations of precarity frequently make assumptions about these young people’s lives and problems. My study endeavours to challenge preconceived ideas about literacy and young people (e.g. that they do not like to read and write), and also about literacy and learning being confined to formal schooling. Drawing on the New Literacy Studies, I consider literacy as social practices rather than activities mainly requiring technical skills. In this paper, I explore literacy mediation in two community-based organisations attended by young people in Québec. The term literacy mediation refers to situations in which a person supports and helps another coping with certain written documents ― e.g. forms, official letters, bills, etc. My study adopts a critical ethnographic approach and involves participant observation, semi-structured interviews with young people and youth workers, and five participatory workshops. The findings show that literacy mediation can foster young people’s learning and empowerment, particularly vis-à-vis institutions and their bureaucracies. I argue that literacy mediation, as observed in my study, can be qualified as a form of powerful literacies. Powerful literacies can counteract dominant literacies and support new ways of learning.