Question Period Note: Response to COVID-19 Through Budget 2021 - Student Work Placement Program

Response to article "Postsecondary students could lose summer work placements due to delayed federal funding extension" published in The Globe and Mail.

• Canada’s future prosperity lies in ensuring that young Canadians graduate with the work-ready skills necessary to succeed.
• In response to the economic impacts created by the pandemic and the resulting pressures on students and employers, the Government is making additional investments of $239.8 million in the Student Work Placement Program.
• This will contribute to continue for another year program flexibilities introduced last year to help post-secondary students access paid work-placements, including:
o Maintain an increased temporary wage subsidy of 75% on all existing work placements in 2021-2022 supported by the Program; and
o Support the creation of up to 20,000 additional work placements.

The Government of Canada’s Student Work Placement (SWP) Program supports partnerships between industry and post-secondary institutions to create quality work placements for students in all disciplines. The Program helps to ensure post-secondary students are developing the work-ready skills required to secure meaningful employment upon graduation. For thousands of Canadian college, university, polytechnic, and CEGEP students, formal co-op programs help to bring together academic learning and applied work experience. These work placements can also include internships, mentorship programs or applied research projects. The Program connects students who need relevant work experience to employers in the Canadian economy looking to benefit from the talent, new ideas and hard work that young people can bring to the workplace.

Budget 2021 announced an additional $239.8M to extend the COVID-19 program flexibilities and temporary measures introduced in 2020 into the 2021-2022 fiscal year. This responds to the ongoing impact of the pandemic on student hiring, and the continuing need for additional supports. This funding includes:
• $51.8 million to maintain an increased temporary wage subsidy of 75% on all existing work placements in 2021-2022 supported by the Program.
• An investment of $187.5 million to support the creation of up to 20,000 additional work placements in 2021-2022.
On May 20, 2021, an article title "Postsecondary students could lose summer work placements due to delayed federal funding extension" was published in The Globe and Mail. The article outlined that Dr. Kaern, a professor at the University of Ottawa had developed partnerships with employers and other universities to employ 80 students to work remotely on research projects this summer. Due to delayed funding availability through the SWP Program, 15 of those placements have been rescinded.

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