JA Canada, Coke Canada Bottling and The Coca-Cola Company Partner to Advance Youth Employability in Canada

TORONTO, Jan. 30, 2025 /CNW/ - Junior Achievement Canada (JA Canada) together with Coke Canada Bottling and The Coca-Cola Company are proud to announce a new partnership offering skills, experiences, and support to help Canadian youth overcome barriers to employment. In May 2024, Statistics Canada reported an approximate 30 per cent increase in unemployability rate among youth ages 15-24, a reality attributed to increased competition for less jobs and lack of experience. The initial findings from the RBC Young People and Economic Inclusion Longitudinal Study highlight the shortage of work-integrated learning opportunities for youth, which would inherently allow them to integrate in the workforce more successfully.

Recent studies, highlighted by The Conversation, show that mentorship has the potential to improving social and economic outcomes for underserved youth. Moreover, a study by Être, indicates mentorship boosts confidence among teenage girls. Through this new partnership, Coke Canada Bottling employees will engage in career mentorship sessions with youth aged 14 and up across the country, sharing their personal knowledge about what it takes to succeed in today's rapidly evolving job market.

These sessions will take place through JA's World of Choices events and a new program, called Pouring Potential: A JA Job Shadow Experience at Coke Canada, being piloted at select Coke Canada facilities and designed to provide opportunities for their manufacturing, distribution, merchandising, and warehouse employees to participate.

World of Choices, JA Canada's flagship work readiness program, is an interactive initiative designed to annually equip over 7500 high school students, with essential skills and knowledge to prepare them for future career success. Over 30 per cent of participants come from underrepresented and underserved communities.

Pouring Potential: A JA Job Shadow Experience at Coke Canada offers youth with a unique job shadowing experience. These custom-designed events at select local Coke Canada facilities offer students an immersive opportunity to gain insights into the industry, develop career skills, and learn directly from professionals in the field.

Both programs have been designed to shape the next generation's career journeys, helping them realize their full potential and contribute to making a positive impact in local communities.

Quotes from Leadership

"We are thrilled to partner with Coke Canada to support the next generation of Canadian leaders," said Scott Hillier CEO of JA Canada. "Together, we are creating meaningful opportunities that empower our young people to develop the skills they need to thrive in their careers, aiding to a stronger and more resilient workforce."

"We have a role to play in helping Canada's youth be better enabled to gain employment through career mentorship, skill building, and work readiness. This new partnership allows our employees to share their unique work experiences and the skills necessary for their career success. We are excited to see this partnership come to life with our teams coast-to-coast." – Todd Parsons, CEO, Coke Canada Bottling

About JA Canada

JA Canada is the country's largest youth business education organization, dedicated to inspiring and preparing youth to succeed in a global economy. Through hands-on programs, JA empowers students to build entrepreneurial skills, financial literacy, and career readiness. www.jacanada.org

About Coke Canada Bottling Limited

Coke Canada Bottling is an independent, family-owned business, with more than 6,000 diverse employees coast-to-coast. As Canada's Local Bottler, the company operates in every province through more than 50 sales and distribution centres and five manufacturing facilities. Coke Canada Bottling proudly makes, distributes, merchandises, and sells the most loved beverages Canadians enjoy, including: Coca-Cola^®, Diet Coke^®, Coca-Cola^® Zero Sugar, Sprite^®, Fanta^®, Barq's^®, Fuze^® Iced Tea, POWERADE^®, DASANI^®, vitaminwater^®, and partner brands Canada Dry^®, Monster Energy^®, and A&W^®. The Coke Canada Bottling family is a team determined to create a better future and deliver optimism by bringing sustainable value for our employees, customers, and consumers, growing our business responsibly, and making a positive difference in the communities where we operate. Visit www.CokeCanada.com to learn more. 

About The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company's purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our water, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak and Ayataka. Our juice, value-added dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We're constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people's lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions  reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

SOURCE JA Canada

Media Inquiries: For more information, request for interviews or comments from JA Canada, please contact: Claudia Campbell, Manager, Partner Marketing JA Canada at [email protected].