Best summer ever: Record number of jobs and opportunities in northern Ontario through Canada Summer Jobs program
News Release
July 4, 2016 Thunder Bay, Ontario Employment and Social Development Canada
More northern Ontario students than ever before will find work this year under the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program, thanks to unprecedented interest shown by employers and students across the province, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Status of Women and Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay–Superior North, announced today.
Minister Hajdu, on behalf of the Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, announced that 2,698 summer jobs have been approved for funding in 10 northern Ontario constituencies compared to 1,204 in 2015, an increase of 124 percent.
The Minister made the announcement at Roots to Harvest, a unique Thunder Bay urban farm which runs a six-week summer youth urban farming program during July and August. In the two constituencies representing Thunder Bay, $1.35 million in funding is being provided to 191 projects for 508 approved jobs.
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister, announced in June that more than 77,000 jobs were approved for funding for students across Canada through the CSJ program. That number is more than double last year’s 34,000 and roughly 7,000 more than originally anticipated when the Government announced a boost to the funding in the federal budget earlier this year.
Supporting youth employment and opportunities is part of the Government of Canada’s approach to help the middle class and Canadians seeking to join it.
Quotes
“More young students across the country are working and will get the opportunity to earn valuable income and build friendships while learning new skills this summer. Canada Summer Jobs is an opportunity for students to prepare for their future and to save for school.”
– The Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
“I’m very proud of our investment in Northern Ontario youth with opportunities to join the job market this summer. We need young Canadians to develop the needed skills that will ensure their economic future and that of our country.”
– The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Status of Women and Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay–Superior North
"The Canada Summer Jobs program has allowed Roots to Harvest to hire more young people, employing them in the meaningful urban agriculture work that we do all across Thunder Bay and building crucial employability skills needed for successful future careers. Canada Summer Jobs funding increases the capacity of Roots to Harvest to do important work with the community, greatly extending our ability to support urban agriculture projects in Thunder Bay and improving the food resiliency of our area. We are grateful to the Canada Summer Jobs Program and the opportunity it gives to young people working with Roots to Harvest."
– Erin Beagle, Executive Director, Roots to Harvest
Quick Facts
- Across Ontario and northern Ontario this summer:
- $88.5 million in funding has been approved in Ontario, an increase of $54 million or 162 percent from last summer.
- In the 10 constituencies in northern Ontario, 2,698 jobs have been approved in 2016 from 957 projects for funding of $6.9 million.
- In Ontario, a total of 31,364 jobs have been approved for funding compared to 12,097 jobs in 2015, an increase of 159 percent.
- In Ontario, a total of 7,015 jobs in small businesses have been approved for funding, compared to 1,135 jobs in 2015, an increase of 518 percent.
- Budget 2016 increased funding for the Canada Summer Jobs program by $339 million over three years, beginning in 2016–17.
- In Thunder Bay–Superior North, the small business sector was approved for 31 jobs from 13 projects for funding of $44,491, compare to 6 jobs in 2015.
Associated Link
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Contacts
John O’Leary
Director of Communications
Office of the Hon. MaryAnn Mihychuk, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
819-654-5611
Media Relations Office
Employment and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
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Backgrounder
Youth Employment Strategy
The Youth Employment Strategy (YES) is the Government of Canada’s commitment to help youth make a successful transition to the workplace. YES helps youth between the ages of 15 to 30 get the information and gain the skills, job experience and abilities they need to make a successful transition to the workforce. YES includes Skills Link, Career Focus and Summer Work Experience and is delivered by 11 federal departments.
- Skills Link helps youth facing barriers to employment -- including single parents, youth with disabilities, aboriginal youth, young newcomers and youth in rural and remote areas -- to develop employability skills and gain experience they need to find a job or return to school.
- Career Focus helps post-secondary graduates transition to the labour market through paid internships and helps provide youth with the information and experience they need to make informed career decisions, find a job and/or pursue advanced studies.
- Summer Work Experience provides wage subsidies to employers to create summer employment for secondary and post-secondary students. The Summer Work Experience program includes Canada Summer Jobs.
Each year, the Government invests approximately $330 million in the YES to help young people gain the skills and experience they need to find and keep good jobs.
Budget 2016 builds on that amount and proposes to invest an additional $278.4 million in 2016-17 in the YES to help nurture and develop underutilized and untapped talent, such as Indigenous youth, youth with disabilities, single parents and newcomers by:
- Creating new green jobs for youth
- Increasing the number of youth who access the Skills Link program, which helps young Canadians overcome barriers to employment
- Supporting employment opportunities in the heritage sector under the Young Canada Works
- New investments in the Canada Summer Jobs program
Canada Summer Jobs
In February 2016, the Government announced that it will create up to 35,000 additional jobs in each of the next three years under the Canada Summer Jobs program. The investment of $339 million over three years starting 2016-17, will nearly double the number of job opportunities supported by the program.
Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers, and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to create summer job opportunities for students.
CSJ creates summer job opportunities and provides valuable work experience for youth intending to return to their studies full-time in the next school year. The program also helps employers generate jobs that focus on priorities important to their local communities as well as on a number of national priorities that include:
- employers who help welcome and settle Syrian refugees to Canada, as well as Syrian students
- Indigenous people, who are among the fastest-growing segments of the Canadian population
- small businesses working to become more innovative, competitive and successful, in recognition of their key contribution to the creation of new jobs
- cultural and creative industries looking to create jobs and to strengthen our rich Canadian identity. This latter priority will support the planning of Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.
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