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Youth

Youth Unemployment in Canada Hits 15-Year High Amid Job Market Woes

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Canada's job market for young workers is facing a pressing crisis, with unemployment rates soaring to a 15-year high of 14.7% for those aged 15 to 24 in September. This recession-like level of youth unemployment is likely to have long-lasting effects on their career trajectories, according to Conservative MP Garnett Genuis. The federal Conservatives and Liberals are at odds over how the government should address this issue, with the Conservatives proposing to boost educational supports in high-demand fields and encourage employers to build housing for workers.

Key Takeaways:

  • Unemployment rates for youth aged 15 to 24 in Canada reached 14.7% in September, a 15-year high outside the pandemic years.
  • Conservative MP Garnett Genuis warned that the "deepening youth unemployment crisis" will affect young workers' career trajectories for the rest of their lives.
  • The Conservatives proposed to boost educational supports in high-demand fields and encourage employers to build housing for workers to address youth unemployment.
  • A recent Statistics Canada report showed that 18.2% of young people with a post-secondary degree, diploma, or certificate were working in a field other than the one they had studied in September, up 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier.
  • The Bank of Canada in a June report cited rapid population growth over the previous two years as driving unemployment among both youth and newcomers.
  • The Liberal government's youth employment and skills strategy, which includes initiatives like the Canada Summer Jobs program, is helping to create thousands of jobs for young workers this year.

Statistics:

  • 14.7%: Unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 in Canada in September.
  • 15 years: Length of time since youth unemployment has been this high outside of pandemic years.
  • 18.2%: Percentage of young people with a post-secondary degree, diploma, or certificate working in a field other than the one they had studied in September.
  • 1.6 percentage points: Increase in the percentage of young people working in a field other than the one they had studied from a year earlier.
  • 14.7%: August unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 in Canada (Statistics Canada).
  • November 4: Date of the fall budget, which will likely include the Liberal government's response to the youth employment crisis.

Sources:

  • [Statistics Canada]
  • [The Bank of Canada]
  • [Desjardins]
  • [The Canadian Press]

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