Question Period Note: ESDC Funding Overview

What is the Government doing to help set young Canadians up for success on their journey towards a better career and future?

• Youth have been among the most disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. They have seen greater job losses than any other age group, while also struggling with the effects of isolation.

• At the same time, the nature of how we work is changing. To keep pace with in-demand skills, young Canadians need supports that provide inclusive opportunities for leadership and career development.

• This is why the Government of Canada has continued to invest in measures that create quality jobs and volunteer service opportunities for youth. For example:

o $239.8M, via Budget 2021, to the Student Work Placement Program, which supported the creation of work-integrated learning opportunities for 50,000 post-secondary students in 2021-2022. In 2022-2023, the Program will support the creation of up to 40,000 work placements for students across various in-demand sectors.

o $371.8M, via Budget 2021, to Canada Summer Jobs, which created over 100,000 jobs for youth in Summer 2022.

o $575M, via the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, and $109.3M via Budget 2021 to support over 52,000 youth under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. This included $195M in additional funding for ESDC's YESS program to support 28,000 youth in those same years.

o $22M via Budget 2016 and $60M via Budget 2019, for the Canada Service Corps to support the creation of 23,000 annual volunteer service placements in 2022-23.

o $314.8M, via Budget 2019, for the Canada Service Corps to support volunteer service placements. This will result in creating 23,000 annual volunteer service in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

• Now and through economic recovery, the Government recognizes the importance of empowering young Canadians to reach their full potential as the leaders of today and tomorrow.

Investment

Student Work Placement (SWP) Program
• Budget 2021 provided $239.8 million to the Student Work Placement (SWP) Program to support work-integrated learning opportunities (WIL) for 50,000 post-secondary students in 2021-2022 (an increase of 20,000).

• In 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, the Program will support the creation of 40,000 WIL opportunities per year across various sectors nationwide.

Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) Program
• Budget 2021 investment of $109.3 million in 2022-2023 (excluding ESDC and GAC), will support an additional 7,000 youth job placements and supports.

• This investment is in addition to:
o the 2020 Fall Economic Statement investment of $575.1 million to create 45,300 job placements for youth in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023; and
o $187M (including $40M for ESDC) announced in June 2020 towards the creation of 9,500 additional work opportunities in 2020-2021 for young Canadians in critical and high-demand sectors.

Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ)
• Budget 2021 provided $371.8 million for 2022-2023 to create an additional 75,000 jobs for a total of 220,000 jobs over 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

• Additional recent investments, included:
o 2020 Fall Economic Statement to support up to 120,000 job placements in 2021-2022; and,
o 10,000 additional job placements for youth added with an investment of $61.4M in 2020-2021.

Canada Service Corps (CSC)
• Budget 2016 provided $105 million over five years and $25 million per year thereafter ($22 million of which is contribution funding) with a vision of creating a culture of youth service in Canada.

• Budget 2019 allocated an additional $314.8 million over five years to the CSC program starting in 2019–2020, with $83.8 million per year in ongoing funding ($70.8 million of which is contribution funding).

Results

SWP
• Launched in 2017-2018 as a small-scale pilot to better prepare post-secondary students for the world of work, the SWP Program has grown from offering 10,000 WIL opportunities over four years, to its recent high of 50,000, in 2021-2022.

YESS
• YESS programming is delivered across 12 federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations. As a horizontal initiative the YESS enables the federal Government to:
o Serve a much broader range of youth, across regions and sectors, including youth with disabilities and youth experiencing multiple barriers;
o Address priorities with centralized funding decision, integrated results monitoring, evaluation, and financial accountability;
o Foster collaboration, innovation and program complementarity;
o Leverage expertise of departments and organizations across various sectors (e.g., STEM, culture); and
o Provide a cohesive response to emerging issues and labour market evidence impacting youth.

CSJ
• For CSJ 2021, the program has surpassed its target of creating 120,000 jobs with more than 124,000 CSJ placements created.

• For CSJ 2022, the program is on track to surpass the target of 100,000 jobs.

CSC
• Since its launch in 2018, CSC has funded over 24,000 service placements and over 6,600 micro-grants for youth across Canada.

BACKGROUND:

SWP Program
• The SWP Program supports partnerships between industry and post-secondary institutions to create quality work placements for students in all disciplines so they can develop the work-ready skills required to secure meaningful employment upon graduation. Placements are WIL opportunities that help post-secondary students to bring together academic learning and applied work experience, and can include co-ops, internships, and mentorship programs.

YESS
• The YESS is a horizontal initiative that is delivered by 12 federal government departments, agencies and Crown Corporations to support the successful transition of youth into the labour market through access to skills, training, employment opportunities and wrap-around supports, with a focus on under-represented youth facing barriers. The Strategy, which consists of two program streams - the YESS Program and Canada Summer Jobs - aims to ensure that young people (aged 15-30), particularly youth facing barriers, gain the skills, work experience and abilities they need to make a successful transition into the labour market.

CSJ
• The CSJ, delivered solely by ESDC, provides wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public-sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees, to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years.

CSC
• The CSC promotes civic engagement among young people through access to meaningful volunteer service opportunities. Launched in 2018, after an initial design phase, which began in 2016, it currently provides funding to approximately 100 recipient organizations to create thousands of service opportunities per year for youth.

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