Government of Canada partners with CanAssist to help 80 BC youth with disabilities develop skills
VICTORIA, March 4, 2019 /CNW/ - Building a strong middle class means giving Canada's youth the tools they need to find and keep quality jobs.
Today the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, visited CanAssist at the University of Victoria and met with student participants of its TeenWork program to mark the first anniversary of the project's expansion
Through the Skills Link program, the Government of Canada is providing over $1.2 million to CanAssist to support 80 youth with disabilities in Victoria and Vancouver in developing the skills they need to get a foothold in the labour market.
Skills Link supports projects that help young people who face barriers to employment gain
skills and hands-on job experience, which helps them make a successful transition into the workforce or go back to school. Participants could include youth who have not completed high school, single parents, Indigenous youth, youth with disabilities, newcomers or youth living in rural or remote areas.
Quotes
"Our communities are healthier and stronger when everyone can fully participate. Supporting youth as they transition into the workforce and giving them the training they need to succeed benefits all of us by growing our economy and strengthening the middle class."
– The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
"Thanks to funding from the Government of Canada's Skills Link Program, CanAssist has been able to expand its innovative TeenWork program to serve many more youth. This unique program helps young people with a range of challenges find and retain employment while they're still in high school, ensuring a smooth transition to adulthood and instilling optimism about the future in them and their families."
– Robin Syme, CanAssist Executive Director
Quick Facts
- The CanAssist TeenWork program helps youth with disabilities and mental health challenges find and retain meaningful, part-time paid employment while attending high school. TeenWork fills a gap in the employment field for youth with disabilities as they near the transition to adulthood.
- The Government invests over $330 million in the Youth Employment Strategy to help young people gain the skills and work experience they need to find and maintain good employment.
- Budget 2018 provided an additional $448.5 million to the Youth Employment Strategy over five years, starting in 2018–19. This funding is supporting the continued increase in the number of job placements funded under the Canada Summer Jobs program in 2019–20.
- Budget 2017 invested an additional $395.5 million over three years. Combined with Budget 2016 measures, these investments will help:
- more than 33,000 vulnerable youth develop the skills they need to find work or go back to school;
- create 15,000 new green jobs for young Canadians; and
- provide more than 1,600 new employment opportunities for youth in the heritage sector.
Backgrounder – Youth Employment Strategy
Associated Links
Youth Employment Strategy
Skills Link
SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
For media enquiries, please contact: Veronique Simard, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, P.C., M.P., Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, [email protected], 819-654-5611; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]
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