Minister Raitt announces winners of "It's Your Job!" video contest

BRAMPTON, ON, June 14, 2013 /CNW/ - The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Canada's Labour Minister, today announced the winners of a national social media video contest entitled "It's Your Job" on workplace safety for young workers. The winner of the Fan Favourite category for the ages of 18-24, Jackson Ho from Mississauga, met with the Minister.

"These young film-makers can be proud of the excellent films they created, and more importantly, of their contribution to informing other young people about their rights to safety in the workplace," said Minister Raitt to students gathered from the North American Trade School in Brampton. "Young workers are the future of our economy, and we are committed to building and sustaining healthy and safe workplaces."

The national winning submissions are:

18 to 24-Year Old
1."Changement de vie" by Jonathan Phoenix-Boulard and Rémi D. Vincent,
St. Charles-Borromée, Quebec.
2."Les proches" by Anthony Fréchette and Aleck Giguère, Drummondville, Quebec.
3."La santé auditive" by Sophie Lamontagne, Montreal, Quebec.
Fan Favourite: "La sécurité avant tout" by Jackson Ho and Jessica Ruiz, Mississauga, Ontario.

Secondary School
1."Workplace Safety" by Christian Arcuri, Vanessa De Maria, Ruby Rose Komisar and Shandra Romanoff; Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School, Caledon, Ontario.
2."Chris" by Linnea Ritland; Lord Byng Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia.
3."Safety" by Tashika Griffiths and Derek Reid-Wilkinson; Pine Ridge Secondary School, Pickering, Ontario.
Fan Favourite:  "A Workplace Dream" by Jacob Farrel, Luke Halyk and Joel Kereluke; Foam Lake Composite High School, Foam Lake, Saskatchewan.

The "It's Your Job!" video contest marks the first time that all provincial and territorial governments, the federal government and Workers Compensation Boards worked together for a national level contest.

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The "It's Your Job" video contest, challenged secondary school students and those who were not in secondary school (but were between 18-24 years of age) to use their creativity in the development of an original video that could be used in social media to illustrate to younger workers the importance of working safely on the job or about their rights to being paid fairly for the work they do.

In Canada, close to 1 000 workers die every year as a result of work-related accidents and young workers are far more likely than adults to be injured on the job. Although they work only 10 percent of the hours of all workers, young people account for 16 percent of all work-related injuries

Hundreds of videos were submitted from across Canada highlighting the importance of knowing employee rights, safe work practices, properly using protective equipment, understanding and following safety regulations, and reporting unsafe conditions, incidents or illnesses.

The winners were selected by a panel of celebrity judges including Jim Caruk, Mag Ruffman, Marc Kielburger, Alan Doyle, Paul Kells, Shirley Hickman, and Jonathan Plante. Fan Favourites were selected by Canadians through a YouTube vote.

The first place video in both categories is automatically entered to represent Canada in a 2014 international workplace video contest. Winning entries received a cash prize and, in the Secondary School category, an equivalent prize was given to the students' school.

• First place video received $2000
• Second place video received $1500
• Third place video received $1000
• Fan favourite video received $1000

To view the submitted videos or for more information on the contest, visit www.youtube.com/yourjobvotretravail or www.labour.gc.ca.

SOURCE: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

For further information:

This news release is available in alternative formats on request.
For further information (media only):

Ashley Kelahear
Press Secretary
Office of Minister Raitt
819-953-5646

Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559
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