LÉVIS, QC, March 19, 2015 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is helping equip youth in Lévis with the skills and experience they need to find jobs. The announcement was made today by the Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Minister of Employment and Social Development, together with the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Lévis–Bellechasse.
Travail Jeunesse* is receiving over $137,000 through the Skills Link program for its project to help 10 youth in Lévis gain the skills and experience necessary to make a successful transition to the job market or return to school.
Participants will benefit from group workshops to learn or improve useful jobs skills such as effective communication and teamwork. They will also gain work experience with local employers, primarily in manufacturing.
This is part of the Government of Canada's overall strategy to equip all Canadians with the skills and training they need to connect with available jobs.
*NOTE Project funding and details are subject to revision, following the finalization of a negotiated agreement between Employment and Social Development Canada and Travail Jeunesse.
Quick Facts
- Since 2006, the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy, which includes the Skills Link program, has helped over 611,000 youth.
- The Government of Canada is helping Canadian youth get the skills employers are looking for with the Canada Job Grant, apprenticeship grants and the new Canada Apprentice Loan. The Government also offers tax credits, such as the tuition, education and textbook tax credits, tradesperson's tools deduction and the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit.
- Economic Action Plan 2014 introduced the Canada Apprentice Loan, which provides apprentices registered in Red Seal trades with interest-free loans of up to $4,000 to complete their technical training. Loans are interest-free until apprentices complete or leave their apprenticeship training program, up to a maximum of six years. At least 26,000 apprentices are expected to apply annually.
Quotes
"Our Government is helping young Canadians get the skills and training they need to find good jobs and build better futures for themselves and their families. I am pleased that youth in Lévis will benefit from our initiatives to connect young people with jobs through Travail Jeunesse's project. They join more than half a million young Canadians who have already benefited from our Government's Youth Employment Strategy."
– The Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Minister of Employment and Social Development
"Our Government is proud to support initiatives like Skills Link to help connect youth with jobs, while ensuring that Canada's economy benefits from the skills and talents of young Canadians. Through our support for Travail Jeunesse's project, ten youth right here in Lévis will gain the skills and experience they need to get jobs now and prepare for the workforce of tomorrow."
– The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Lévis–Bellechasse
Associated Links
Backgrounder
The Youth Employment Strategy (YES) is the Government of Canada's commitment to help youth make a successful transition to the workplace. With annual funding of approximately $330 million, YES helps youth between the ages of 15 and 30 get the information and gain the skills and work experience they need to succeed in the workplace. YES includes the Skills Link and Career Focus programs, as well as the Canada Summer Jobs initiative, which creates thousands of job opportunities for students every summer.
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 the confidence to return to school. Skills Link has helped over 191,000 youth since 2006.
Career Focus helps post-secondary graduates transition to the job market through paid internships and helps to provide youth with the information and experience they need to make informed career decisions, find a job or pursue advanced studies. Since 2006, Career Focus has helped over 29,000 youth.
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. Since it began in 2007, Canada Summer Jobs has helped over 304,000 students.
Through Economic Action Plan 2014, the Government of Canada is investing $40 million towards supporting up to 3,000 internships in high-demand fields and $15 million annually towards supporting up to 1,000 internships in small and medium-sized enterprises under the Youth Employment Strategy.
The Government of Canada also provides a range of support—including Canada Student Loans, Canada Student Grants, the Canada Learning Bond and the Canada Education Savings Grant—to help young Canadians pursue and save for their post-secondary education, so that they can acquire the skills and training they need to succeed in the job market.
Visit youth.gc.ca and CanLearn.ca for more information.
SOURCE Canada's Economic Action Plan
Meagan Murdoch, Office of the Minister, 819-994-2482; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected],
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