VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 4, 2021 /CNW/ - Young people were among the hardest hit when the pandemic struck. That is why the Government of Canada continues to make historic investments to ensure that youth have the supports and opportunities they need to build long and successful careers. With that goal in mind came the creation of over 300,000 youth and student jobs since the start of the pandemic and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit, which provided income support for over 700,000 students last summer.
Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, met with young people from BGC Canada (formerly Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada) to discuss youth employment and opportunities available through Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) and the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS).
As part of this discussion, Minister Qualtrough highlighted the importance of partners like BGC Canada, who are delivering 123 CSJ projects across the country, creating 1,187 job opportunities for young people this summer. These opportunities will provide young Canadians with a wide range of work experience, including meaningful positions like camp counsellor, camp leader, child and youth worker, and health and safety coordinator, among many others. BGC Canada will also lead two YESS projects that will benefit 90 youth in their skills and employment journeys. Combined, this represents a total federal investment of $7.6 million.
As of August 1, 2021, more than 160,000 CSJ opportunities were made available to young Canadians, across a wide variety of fields, to ensure that youth, particularly those facing barriers, gain the skills and experience needed to successfully transition to the labour market. These jobs can be found on jobbank.gc.ca/youth.
Through Budget 2021, the Government committed nearly $5.7 billion over the next five years to help young Canadians pursue and complete their education, acquire new skills and access more work opportunities. This is on top of the $7.4 billion already invested to support young Canadians during the pandemic. Thousands more young Canadians will be able to benefit from these historic Government investments:
- approximately 37,000 new job placements through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy over the next two years;
- approximately 220,000 job placements through Canada Summer Jobs over the program's 2021 and 2022 seasons;
- an expected 50,000 work-integrated learning placements through the Student Work Placement Program in 2021–22;
- at least 85,000 work-integrated learning placements through Mitacs programs over the next five years, starting in 2021–22; and
- 28,000 training and work opportunities for young Canadians through the Canada Digital Technology Adoption program in 2021–22.
Taken together, the Government of Canada's response to the current crisis represents one of the largest youth support packages in the world.
Quotes
"There is only one way to describe this year's Canada Summer Jobs program: groundbreaking. With a record-setting 160 ,000 job opportunities made available across the country, tens of thousands of young Canadians will gain meaningful work experience that they'll carry with them for the rest of their lives. It's when all Canadians are working, learning and succeeding that Canada will be able to build back better. Our government will continue to be there to support young people and the many dedicated employers across the country that are creating more opportunities for youth to move forward and succeed."
– Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough
"The impacts of the pandemic on children, youth and families have been significant, with young people in particular experiencing unprecedented stresses and barriers. We applaud the federal government for adding much-needed flexibility to the Canada Summer Jobs requirements, which allows our Clubs to better meet the needs of the communities they serve and continue to play a meaningful role in supporting youth employment, helping young people save for their future, get much-needed job experience, and give back to their communities."
– Owen Charters, President and Chief Executive Officer, BGC Canada
Quick Facts
- CSJ is part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, which strives to give young Canadians between the ages of 15 and 30 paid work opportunities so that they can grow professionally and improve their skills in the not-for-profit, small business and public sectors. It also supports the delivery of key community services to Canadians.
- In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, temporary flexibilities similar to those introduced for CSJ 2020 are available this year to ensure that even more young Canadians can apply. These include:
- an increased wage subsidy, so that private and public sector employers can receive up to 75% of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage for each employee (not-for-profit organizations will continue to receive 100%);
- an extension to the end date for employment to February 26, 2022; and
- allowing employers to hire staff on a part-time basis.
- The CSJ 2021 call for employer applications closed on February 3, 2021. Over 50,000 applications were received during the call, representing more than 240,000 jobs requested. More than 45,000 projects have been approved representing more than 160,000 job opportunities.
- CSJ-funded jobs started as early as April 26, 2021. The last possible date for a work placement to start is January 15, 2022. The latest end date for all CSJ jobs, subject to agreement length, is February 26, 2022.
Related Products
Associated Links
- Canada Summer Jobs
- Job Bank website and mobile app
- Youth Employment and Skills Strategy
- Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience
- Investing in young Canadians
SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
Ashley Michnowski, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]
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