Engaging Youth at Risk Entering the 21

st

Century Labor Market: the Canadian Experience

December 2008

Active Employment Measures Directorate Skills and Employment Branch Human Resources and Social Development Canada

Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy (YES)

  Is a major initiative for youth that involves 11 departments; YES is comprised of 3 program streams: – Career Focus • Assists postsecondary graduates obtain career-related work experience.

– Summer Work Experience • Offers summer work experience to high school and postsecondary students.

– Skills Link • Helps at-risk youth to overcome barriers to employment; • Enables them to develop skills, knowledge and to gain work experience required to participate in the labour market or return to school.

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A new approach for helping the youth

 In 2003, YES was realigned taking into account the information and knowledge gained during the first six years of the Strategy.

 The new approach is more: – flexible, since it has been acknowledged that the needs of the youth are diverse, and; – responsive to the local market needs.

 The 2003 Renewal resulted in a major refocusing of YES, which is now: – focused on both skills development and work experience.

– designed for a labour market where specific groups of youth face high unemployment (at-risk youth) 3

Skills Link – Helping at-risk youth

  Addresses the multiple needs of the at-risk youth, i.e. youth facing barriers to employment.

Youth participation in the Canadian labour market is strong, but some groups face labour difficulties:

Aboriginal Youth

+ Low Participation (51.9%) Low Employment (40.7%) High Unemployment (21.6%)

Immigrant Youth +

Low Employment (49.4%) High Unemployment (14.4%)

NEET Youth

++ Approximately 295 000 youth are neither in school nor working

Youth with Disabilities +++

Low Participation (52%)

Single Parents (15-24) with children at home +

High unemployment (21.9%) Low Employment (41.8%)

+ Census 2006 ++ Neither in Education, Employment or Training (Labour Force Survey, 2006) +++ Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, 2006 *** Statistics Canada 2007 Labour Force Survey Regional Variations ***

Higher youth unemployment in some regions, e.g.: - NFLD (20.2%) - Sudbury (17.4%) 4

Skills Link – Design and Delivery

 SL is a flexible program designed to address the multiple needs of youth (e.g. at-risk of becoming gang involved, disenfranchised youth, youth lacking labour market attachment.)  SL’s interventions: – are project-based and funded through third-party delivery organizations; – vary according to local labour market needs and the needs of the youth.

 SL is a client-centred approach

– based on tailored interventions.

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How Skills Link works

Client Assessment Case Management Community Planning

Case management helps participants prepare action plans to address gaps in their skills/education.

Tailored Interventions

Tailored interventions provides continuum of supports toward employment or return to school.

Community-based planning is undertaken to understand and address local needs related to integrating youth into the local labour market.

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Benefits and Key Results

 Skills Link is meeting its objectives. This program: – – Helps the youth to overcome their barriers to employment; Enhances the skills the youth need to decide to return to school or to gain employment; – Has positive impacts on youth annual earnings.

 Key Results 2007-2008: – – – – 14,763 Clients served 956 New Agreements 6448 Clients employed 1359 Clients returned to school 7

Skills Link Project Examples

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Breaking the Cycle: Youth Gang Exit and Youth Ambassador Leadership Employment Preparation Project

– Toronto – Outreaches to youth who are at-risk of gang involvement or are already at the peripheral of a gang; – Youth participate in intensive personal development sessions which help with interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, community building, and the impact of violence and gang involvement.

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Chance to Choose

– – Vancouver Focuses on increasing employability skills through community service.

– The youth have the opportunity to design a community service project to share while providing them with enhanced life skills, such as decision-making, interpersonal communication and teamwork. 8

Skills Link Project Examples (cont’d)



FPSYIP (Federal Public Sector Youth Internship Program

): – – – – established in 1997 to complement YES; integrated into Skills Link in 2007; funded by HRSDC ($15M per year); delivered nationally through a contribution agreement with the Greater Toronto Area YMCA YMCA acts as an employer + network of local YMCAs provide assessment, case management, counselling, job-search workshops, etc.

 This program pursues the objective of breaking the vicious cycle of “no job, no experience; no experience, no job.”  Youth “at-risk” undertake 6-9 month paid internships in the federal public service to: – – enhance employability skills; be mentored by experienced employees.

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