Question Period Note: Employment and Skills Support for Canada’s Youth

How is the Government of Canada supporting youth and students to gain the skills and experience they need to successfully enter the labour market?

To create a strong and competitive workforce, youth must be equipped with the skills and opportunities to find and keep good jobs.

We need to invest now. Budget 2025 proposes to empower around 175,000 youth in 2026-27 to develop work-ready skills through hands-on experience and training.

To develop the confidence and skills youth need to succeed the Government of Canada will,:

create 100,000 jobs under Canada Summer Jobs in 2026,

help 20,000 youth facing employment barriers under the Youth Employment and Skills Program; and

create 55,000 work-integrated learning opportunities in 2026-27 through the Student Work Placement Program.

With a $1.5 billion in investments over the next three years.

To strengthen Canada’s resilience to climate emergencies, Budget 2025 proposes the creation of a Youth Climate Corps which will provide paid skills training to build a climate competitive economy.

Current Labour Market Outlook for Youth and Students 

In October 2025, the unemployment rate for youth (aged 15 to 24) was 14.1%, slightly lower than the September rate of 14.7%. For the Summer of 2025, the average unemployment rate for returning students aged 15 to 24 was 17.9%, the highest rate since the summer of 2009 (apart from the pandemic).  

New graduates are also having difficulty securing employment - in the first quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate was 11.2% for recent graduates under 25 years old.   

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS STRATEGY  

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy is a Government of Canada initiative that delivered through a network of 12 federal departments, agencies, and Crown corporations.  

Employment and Social Development Canada is responsible for two programs: 

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program - provides third party organizations with funding to deliver individually tailored supports and services to equip youth facing barriers, to succeed on their employment journeys.  

Canada Summer Jobs - provides wage subsidy supports to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees, to hire youth for local quality summer employment opportunities.

Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program Results and Impacts 

The 2024 Youth Employment and Skills Strategy evaluation found that the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program had positive employment outcomes for youth post-participation, compared to non-participants - including better wages, lower reliance on income support and higher returns to work.  

Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program Investment History and Current Status 

Through Budget 2024, an additional $150.7 million was allocated to Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, to support over 20,000 opportunities in 2025-2026. 

Budget 2025 proposes to provide an additional $307.9 million over two years, starting in 2026-2027, to maintain supports to around 20,000 youth annually.   

Canada Summer Jobs Program Results and Outcomes 

The program provided over 71,000 youth jobs in 2024, and approximately 76,000 youth in 2025.  

The 2024 horizontal evaluation of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy found that the Canada Summer Jobs program had positive employment outcomes for youth post-participation, compared to non-participants - including better wages, lower reliance on income support and higher returns to work.  

Canada Summer Jobs Investment History and Current Status 

To maintain 70,000 job opportunities for CSJ 2025, $200.5 million was provided under Budget 2024.  

Given high unemployment rates, an additional 6,000 job opportunities were announced in June 2025, bringing the total to 76,000 jobs  

Budget 2025 proposes to provide $594.7 million over two years, which will support an increase to 100,000 jobs in summer 2026. 

STUDENT WORK PLACEMENT PROGRAM

The Student Work Placement Program supports the creation of work-integrated learning opportunities for students of all ages enrolled at Canadian post-secondary education institutions. These opportunities help students gain the necessary skills, education, and real-life work experience to transition successfully into the workforce. 

There are two types of opportunities, work placements which are paid opportunities in a student’s chosen field of study for up to four months; and innovative work-integrated learning opportunities which are shorter, more intensive and offer flexibility of access. 

Student Work Placement Program Results and Outcomes 

Since 2017, the Program has supported over 300,000 work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students across all provinces and territories and in most sectors of the Canadian economy.  

The Program has connected post-secondary students with over 34,000 employers (92% micro, small and medium size enterprises) and over 420 Canadian post-secondary institutions have participated in the Program. 

Investment History and Current Status 

Budget 2025 proposes to provide $635.2 million over three years for the Student Work Placement Program. In 2026-2027, the Program will support around 55,000 work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students. 

Funding for 2025-2026 has been fully committed. The 26 agreements (24 funding recipients) have been extended to support the delivery of 40,000 work-integrated learning opportunities, which began in the Summer 2025 academic semester.  

Youth unemployment was 14.1% in October 2025, slightly lower than the September rate of 14.7%.

The Government of Canada is committed to supporting youth build skills, gain employment in good careers, and empower young Canadians to develop work-ready skills through hands-on experience and training.

Budget 2025 proposes to invest in a robust and adaptable workforce by supporting about 175,000 youth next year, through $1.5 billion over three years, starting in 2026-27, as follows:

$594.7 million over two years for Canada Summer Jobs to support about 100,000 jobs in Summer 2026;

$307.9 million over two years to maintain supports to 20,000 youth per year through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy programs, providing employment, training, and wrap-around supports, especially for those facing barriers to employment; and

$635.2 million over three years for the Student Work Placement Program to support around 55,000 work-integrated learning opportunities in 2026-27.

Budget 2025 proposes to also invest in green skills training to equip the workforce needed to build a climate competitive economy by providing $40 million over two years to create a new Youth Climate Corps to train youth to quickly respond to climate emergencies, support recovery, and strengthen resilience in communities across Canada.