Government of Canada invests to help youth get jobs in regional county municipality of L'Érable

PLESSISVILLE, QC, Feb. 19, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - The Government of Canada is providing support for youth in the region of L'Érable to help them gain the skills, knowledge and experience they need to enter and succeed in the job market. The announcement was made today by the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture) and Member of Parliament for Mégantic-L'Érable, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

"Our government's top priorities are job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity," said Minister Paradis. "The Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy is helping youth develop the skills and gain the experience they need to get jobs now and prepare for the workforce of tomorrow."

The Organisme de Récupération Anti-Pauvreté de l'Érable (O.R.A.P.É.) is receiving over $90,000 from the Skills Link program to help youth overcome barriers to employment. Skills Link is part of the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy (YES).

Young people will participate in workshops to develop basic essential behaviours and skills that help them enter the labour market, such as communication, customer service and interview preparation. In the context of group projects, they will discover their areas of interest and put into practice their newly acquired skills in various fields, such as computer science, cabinet making, recycling and merchandise receiving.

"These projects will help youth from the regional county municipality of L'Érable who have social difficulties to reintegrate into society in a constructive manner," said Pierre Calouri, Director General, O.R.A.P.É. "As a result of this funding, we will be able to hold activities with the young people to help them improve their independence and their skills so they can return to the labour market."

With an annual budget of more than $300 million, YES helps youth, particularly those facing barriers to employment, obtain career information, develop employment skills, find jobs and stay employed. YES includes the Skills Link and Career Focus programs and the Canada Summer Jobs initiative, which creates thousands of job opportunities for students every summer.

Employers may submit applications for this year's Canada Summer Jobs program until February 28th. Applications for employers are available online at servicecanada.gc.ca/csj2013 and at Service Canada Centres.

Economic Action Plan 2012 is providing an additional $50 million over two years to enhance YES through a new initiative that will connect young Canadians with jobs in high demand and help them develop tangible skills and gain work experience.

The Government of Canada is helping youth plan their careers, learn new skills and find jobs through enhanced online services available at youth.gc.ca.

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Backgrounder

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Youth employment programs are part of the Government of Canada's broader strategy to create an educated, skilled and flexible workforce. The Government underscored its commitment to this strategy in Canada's Economic Action Plan. A key component of the Plan is to create more and better opportunities for Canadian workers through skills development. To learn more about Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit actionplan.gc.ca.

Skills Link helps youth facing barriers to employment, including youth who are single parents, youth with disabilities and youth in rural and remote areas, to develop the skills and gain the experience needed to find a job or the confidence to return to school.

Career Focus provides funding to employers to hire young post-secondary graduates to give them career-related work experience and help them acquire skills to transition into the job market.

Canada Summer Jobs 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 years who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next school year.

To learn more about Canada's Youth Employment Strategy and other youth employment initiatives, please visit youth.gc.ca.

SOURCE: SERVICE CANADA

Marian Ngo
Press Secretary
Office of Minister Finley
819-994-2482

Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559
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This news release is available online at actionplan.gc.ca.