As Canada’s young people continue to struggle with a challenging labour market, the federal government has outlined its plans to address a crisis that has produced some of the highest youth unemployment rates in more than a decade.
The plan focuses on work placement and summer job creation for students, and more investments in skills training programs that the federal government says it expects will make it easier for young people to find work, including in the trades and climate-related sectors.
“To the youth, this budget was made for you,” said Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne during a speech on Tuesday before he tabled the budget in the House of Commons.
Young people tend to be the first and hardest hit when economic conditions are weak. In the years since the pandemic, inflation has surged, elevating the cost of living. Population growth has also ballooned — especially among the student-aged cohort — outpacing the number of available jobs in recent years, though growth has levelled off this year.
“There’s very much a shift in terms of expectations of what someone’s life is going to look like, and that is a huge challenge for young people,” said Rob Gillezeau, an assistant professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto.
Now, the country is teetering on the edge of a recession as a bruising trade war with the U.S. leads to layoffs and a pullback on hiring and investment. And that doesn’t bode well for younger generations, added Gillezeau.
“Most recessions are relatively short in duration, but if this one is being driven by the Americans essentially having completely wild economic policy that appears intent on damaging our country, the economic harm can be much longer lasting,” he said.
“That’ll have a disproportionate impact on young people.”
Summer jobs, trade programs for young people
“Overall, when I look at this in this budget, I think what they are trying to do is signal that they’re aware that youth are being most impacted right now,” said Rebekah Young, a vice-president at Scotiabank Economics.
However, “when we think about this transformation the Carney government is trying to do … I think they’re going to have to go deeper in terms of how [are] the education and the university systems equipping younger Canadians to enter and stay in the workforce.”
For its Student Work Placement Program, the federal government is planning to set aside $635.2 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, for 55,000 “work-integrated learning opportunities” — basically, skills training and short-term job placements — for post-secondary students.
It’s also proposing $594.7 million over two years toward the Canada Summer Jobs program, an initiative it began exploring a few years ago that it says will support 100,000 jobs for youth next summer.
Among the more targeted proposals is a “Youth Climate Corps” — a paid skills training program for young people in which they will be…
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