Delivering More Summer Jobs for Nova Scotia Youth - Government of Canada doubles investment in Canada Summer Jobs program

HALIFAX, Feb. 22, 2016 /CNW/ - Rodger Cuzner, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour and Member of Parliament for Cape Breton–Canso, and Andy Fillmore, Member of Parliament for Halifax, encouraged eligible Nova Scotia employers today to take advantage of a newly enhanced Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program that will create up to double the number of available student jobs. 

While visiting the YMCA of Greater Halifax, Mr. Cuzner and Mr. Fillmore urged interested employers not to miss the new application deadline of March 11. The Government of Canada announced recently that it will support the hiring of up to 70,000 students across the country through the CSJ in 2016, approximately double the 34,000 hired under the program last year.

Approximately 200 students were hired in the constituency of Halifax by employers funded by the program last summer, while more than 1,600 students benefited across the province of Nova Scotia. 

CSJ creates summer job opportunities and provides valuable work experience for youth intending to return to their studies in the next school year. The program also helps employers generate jobs that focus on priorities important to their local communities as well 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; and
• 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.

The Government of Canada extended the application deadline for the program by two weeks to March 11, 2016, and invites all eligible employers to apply at www.servicecanada.gc.ca/csj or by visiting a Service Canada office. Applicants approved for funding will be able to hire students as early as May 2016.

Quotes

"We need to do everything we can to make sure young Canadians, in Nova Scotia and across Canada, have the opportunity to get the work experience they will need to start their careers and contribute fully to our economy. Their future and ours depend on it."

-         Rodger Cuzner, Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

"It's great to be here at the YMCA to highlight the fact that we want to help more young Canadians get the right work experience to launch their career and contribute fully to our economy, here in Nova Scotia and across Canada."

-         Andy Fillmore, Member of Parliament for Halifax

"The Canada Summer Jobs program has allowed our YMCA to strengthen and expand programs to meet the changing needs of our community and in turn has provided practical work experience for students which not only strengthens the individual, but strengthens the foundations of community."

-          Brian Posavad, President and CEO, YMCA of Greater Halifax (YMCA Employment Centre)

Quick Facts

• The annual budget for Canada Summer Jobs will increase by $113 million to $220 million for each of the next three years, beginning in 2016–17.
• This is the first increase to the Canada Summer Jobs annual budget since 2009.
• Not-for-profit employers can receive up to 100 percent of the provincial/territorial minimum hourly wage and mandatory employment-related costs. Public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees can receive up to 50 percent of the provincial/territorial minimum hourly wage.
• Canada Summer Jobs is part of the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy, which helps young people, particularly those facing barriers to employment, get the information and gain the skills and work experience needed to make a successful transition to the labour market.

Backgrounder
Doubling the Canada Summer Jobs Program

Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees, to help create summer job opportunities for students.  Aside from helping to create employment, the program also delivers important diverse community services that can range from youth services organizations, summer camps to services for seniors. Students learn transferrable skills such as public speaking, time management, self-confidence and organizational skills.

The Government of Canada announced on February 12, 2016 a doubling of the number of summer jobs to be created from over 34,000 in 2015 to nearly 70,000 in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The new funding will be allocated to Canada's 338 constituencies on the basis of the most recent Labour Force Survey and the most recent census. As a result, constituencies with higher levels of unemployed students will receive a greater allocation than constituencies with lower levels of unemployed students. Canada Summer Jobs program funding has also doubled to $220 million annually for the next three years beginning in 2016, up from $107.5 million in 2015. This is the first annual increase to the Canada Summer Jobs program since 2009.

Not-for-profit organizations may be eligible for up to 100 percent of the minimum wage and up to 100 percent of mandatory employment-related costs. Public-sector and private-sector employers are eligible for up to 50 percent of the minimum wage.

Employers approved for funding must agree to hire youth who are:

• between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of employment;
• registered as full-time students in the previous academic year and intending to return to school on a full-time basis in the next academic year;
• Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or have official refugee protection status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and
• legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations.

Applications will be assessed and participating Members of Parliament will ensure that local priorities are reflected, using the following criteria:

• service to local communities;
• jobs that support local priorities;
• jobs that support national priorities;
• jobs that provide career-related experience or early work experience;
• jobs with a salary that contributes to the student's income;
• employers who provide supervision and mentoring;
• project activities that are directed toward members of, and support the vitality of, an official language minority community; and;
• employers who intend to hire priority students (students with disabilities, Indigenous students and students who are members of visible minority groups).

Examples of local priorities may include:

• special events (sport, cultural or other events on a local, provincial/territorial, national or international scale) including Canada's 150^th anniversary of Confederation;
• locations (such as rural or remote areas or areas of high unemployment); and,
• sectors (such as tourism, culture, agriculture, private sector).

Employers can apply online at servicecanada.gc.ca/csj. Information about accessing this application is available by calling 1-800-935-5555, or by visiting any Service Canada Centre. Employer applications must be submitted by March 11^th, 2016.

The announcement is the first of the Government of Canada's commitments to youth made under the New Plan for a Strong Middle Class, which also includes expanding the other components of the Youth Employment Strategy and pre-apprenticeship training.

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

John O'Leary, Director of Communications, Office of the Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, 819-654-5611, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]