Funding will aim to support 70,000 summer jobs for youth
The federal government has officially launched the employer application period for Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) 2025.
“With many youth struggling to break into the job market, the Canada Summer Jobs program couldn’t be more important,” said Marci Ien, minister for women and gender equality and youth. “Not only does the program allow young people to earn money over the summer, it also offers youth entering the labour market their first taste of paid work, or a chance to gain real work experience in their chosen field of study, paving the way to a successful career.”
Ottawa is accepting applications from employers from non-for-profit organizations and the public sector, as well as private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees.
An organization must be registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and have a business number to receive funding.
Employers can apply for funding until Dec. 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PST to hire youth next summer. Interested parties can submit their applications electronically on the Grants and Contributions Online Services (GCOS) portal.
Overall, the funding will aim to support 70,000 summer jobs for youth across Canada.
Full-time jobs will become available starting on April 21, 2025.
Six in 10 organizations have terminated recent college graduates as they express dissatisfaction about these hires, according to a new report from Intelligent.com.
The unemployment rate for 15- to 29-year-olds in October 2024 (both student and non-student) was 12.8%. However, for under-represented groups, these rates tend to be higher.
In a survey of CSJ youth participants for 2023, 92% of youth reported having more confidence in multiple skills needed for future employment than they had at the beginning of their CSJ work experience, and 89% of youth indicated that they had developed a positive attitude about their future employment prospects, according to the government.
Since 2020, CSJ has supported employers to create more than 383,000 job opportunities for youth. CSJ 2023 surpassed its 70,000 jobs target, with 74,500 jobs created. The government is also on track to meet its 70,000 jobs target for CSJ 2024, though results are still being finalized.
To help youth in Canada pursue and achieve their dreams, the federal government is investing to create 90,000 youth job placements and employment support opportunities. Under Budget 2024, the government proposes to provide $351.2 million in 2025–26 for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. These investments in youth job opportunities include:
Canada’s failure to address its youth unemployment crisis will cost the country $18.5 billion in GDP by 2034, find Kings’ Trust and Deloitte.
One of the reasons why youth unemployment in Canada is so high is the sheer number of young people in the country entering the employment age, according to an expert.
