March 13, 2017 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON: As part of the Government of Canada’s plan to strengthen the middle class and help those working hard to join it, Sault Ste. Marie youth are developing job skills and gaining hands-on work experience thanks to a new project supported with funding provided by the Government of Canada. Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, made the announcement today on behalf of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.
Youth will participate in the project, which will be delivered by the Sault Community Career Centre. Through workshops, they will develop skills to help them find and keep jobs, such as job search techniques, interview preparation and business communications. They will have the opportunity to participate in courses such as First Aid/CPR and employee safety. Participants will also gain valuable work experience in various sectors of the local economy.
The Government of Canada will provide approximately $440,000 in funding for this project through the Skills Link program, which supports projects that provide hands-on work experience, job search assistance and skills upgrading resources for youth facing barriers to employment. This includes youth who are single parents, have disabilities, are newcomers, or live in rural and remote areas.
Quotes
“Giving youth a strong start through this type of project will ensure that the next generation of capable workers, entrepreneurs, business leaders, innovators and tradespeople achieve success and grow our economy.”
– The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
“Developing our youth is a priority. The Sault Community Career Centre’s project is a concrete example of what we can achieve for youth by working in partnership with organizations across the riding. Projects like this one can help put regular paycheques into the reach of those who need it. But more than that, they give young Canadians the chance to change their future.”
– Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie
“The Sault Community Career Centre will be delivering the Youth Employment Learning Opportunities (YELO) program. This program, funded by Skills Link Canada, will engage females, ages 15 to 29, in creating a well informed and thoughtful action plan with the theme of finding sustainable and meaningful employment. Each youth will create their own ’employment tool box’ where they will develop a broad range of skills, training, and knowledge in order to successfully participate in the current and future labour market. YELO will support the participants in overcoming employment barriers and assist them in successfully reaching their future goals. Plans may be; completing on the job training, finding immediate employment, deciding to open up their own business or continuing on in their education and skill development which we know can be key to participating effectively in the labour market. Each youth’s action plan will lead to their own personal success.”
– Karol Rains, Executive Director of the Sault Ste. Community Career Centre
Quick Facts
* Skills Link is part of the Government’s Youth Employment Strategy (YES). Each year, the Government invests more than $330 million in YES to help young people gain the skills, abilities and work experience they need to find and maintain good employment.
* To expand employment opportunities for young Canadians, Budget 2016 invested an additional $165.4 million in 2016–17. That’s an increase of 77 percent over the year before, and the largest increase to YES since 1997.
* This new funding is on top of the $339 million investment over three years in the Canada Summer Jobs program to create up to 70,000 new jobs for youth each year.
Associated Links
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. The YES helps youth between the ages of 15 and 30 get the information and gain the skills, job experience and abilities they need to make a successful transition to the workforce. The 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, young newcomers and youth in rural and remote areas—to develop the skills and gain the experience needed 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. The Canada Summer Jobs program provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to create summer job opportunities for young people aged 15 to 30 who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next school year.
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.
More recently, Budget 2016 proposed to invest an additional $165.4 million in the Youth Employment Strategy in 2016–17 to:
* create new green jobs for youth;
* increase the number of youth who access the Skills Link program; and
* support employment opportunities in the heritage sector under the Young Canada Works program.
