BOWMANVILLE, ON, May 20, 2015 /CNW/ - The Harper Government is helping equip youth in Durham Region with the skills and experience they need to find jobs. The announcement was made today by the Honourable Erin O'Toole, Member of Parliament for Durham, on behalf of the Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Minister of Employment and Social Development.
Through the Harper Government's Youth Employment Strategy, Interconnection Research International Ltd. will help youth in the Durham Region overcome barriers to employment with its Youth Employment Readiness Program. Participants will gain useful job skills and training through workshops and group-based activities. They will also gain valuable work experience with local employers in areas such as retail sales, child services and marketing. Interconnection Research International is receiving over $442,000 for this important program for youth.
This is part of the Harper Government's overall strategy to help provide Canadians with the skills and training they need to connect with available jobs. The Durham riding will also receive $308,000 for the Canada Summer Jobs program to help provide employment for students and support the tourism, agriculture and non-profit sectors in Durham.
Today's announcement is one example of what the Government is doing to help Canadians. To help hard-working families, the Government is also enhancing the Universal Child Care Benefit, introducing the Family Tax Cut and making improvements to the Child Care Expenses Deduction and the Children's Fitness Tax Credit.
Quick Facts
- Since 2006, the Harper Government's Youth Employment Strategy has helped over 611,000 youth.
- The Harper Government 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, the 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. Since January, over 6,000 apprentices across Canada have benefited from the Canada Apprentice Loan.
- The Universal Child Care Benefit would increase from $100 to $160 per month (totalling up to $1,920 per year) for children under the age of 6, and parents would receive a new benefit of $60 per month (up to $720 per year) for each child aged 6 through 17.
Quotes
"We are proud to work with local organizations like Interconnection Research International to help young people in the Durham Region develop the skills they need to enter and succeed in the job market. Initiatives like Skills Link help connect youth with jobs while ensuring that Canada's economy benefits from the skills and talents of young Canadians."
– The Honourable Erin O'Toole, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Member of Parliament for Durham
"We are delighted to continue offering effective youth employment and career readiness programming for Durham Region youth. Our success rate—over 90 percent annually in entrepreneurship and employment readiness programs—means we have effectively launched over 324 young adults since 2003 into their own businesses or longer-term employment, and/or into higher education. Statistics aside, we are happy to be a part of the youth unemployment solution and to see the results daily in happy, balanced and focused participants moving forward with their lives."
– Nicole Andrews, Coordinator, Youth Employment Readiness Program
Associated Links
Services for Youth
Economic Action Plan
Helping Families Prosper
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 Employment and Social Development Canada
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Office of Hon. Erin O'Toole, Member of Parliament for Durham, 905-697-1699 or 1-866-436-1141, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]
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