Tories Propose Training, Housing Measures to Address High Youth Unemployment

The Conservatives are proposing changes to Ottawa’s student financial assistance and a tax incentive for building workforce housing as measures to address the high rate of youth unemployment in Canada.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis announced the Tories’ Youth Job Plan at an Oct. 15 press conference in Ottawa and called on the Liberal government to adopt the plan in its upcoming federal budget.

Canada’s youth unemployment rate reached a 15-year high, excluding the pandemic period, in September at 14.7 percent, according to Statistics Canada’s September Labour Force Survey. The rate grew 0.2 percentage points from 14.5 percent in August, and grew 1.2 percentage points from September last year.

Genuis said youth unemployment was already at “recession levels” before the latest increase, but StatCan’s new data indicates a “deepening youth unemployment crisis,” noting 460,000 young people are now unemployed.

“This is an intolerable situation,” Genuis said. “The first job a young person gets is often their most important job because it sets them on a track to a successful lifelong career. High youth unemployment doesn’t just cause pain and misery in the present—it affects the lifelong career trajectories of the next generation.”

He noted that “decisive and constructive” action is needed to respond to the increasing youth unemployment rate, and proposed several measures as part of the Tories’ Youth Jobs Plan. While the Liberals have proposed to increase public spending to expand existing youth job subsidy programs, Genuis said this move doesn’t meet the magnitude of the problem.

The Tories’ plan proposes to “fix training” by reforming the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program, which offers financial assistance to low-income and other in-need students, to offer more or less funding based on whether an applicant’s field of study has better employment outcomes than others.

Genuis didn’t offer examples of in-demand sectors but said “objective” criteria should be used to determine which fields lead to better career outcomes. The proposed changes would help fix the “misalignment” between education and the job market, he said. The September StatCan data indicated that roughly one in six workers with postsecondary education work in jobs unrelated to their training.

Housing, Immigration

The Conservative plan also proposes to allow businesses in regions facing labour shortages to write off the cost of building homes for employees. Genuis said this would make it easier for unemployed youth to consider relocating to areas where workers are needed.

“Secure and comfortable housing available on site or close by makes relocation for Canadians so much easier,” he said, noting that foreign labour “cannot be the only solution” for employers struggling to find workers.

The Conservatives have been calling for an end to the temporary foreign worker program, with carve outs in the agricultural sector, saying the program has shut young Canadians out of employment and allowed some businesses to take advantage of newcomers.

The Tories’ plan also consists of measures the party has already been calling for, such as fixing Canada’s immigration system by improving international credential recognition and realigning immigration with labour and housing market realities.

The plan also includes the Conservatives’ existing proposals to reduce red tape in homebuilding and resource extraction, which Genuis said would have benefits for youth looking for work.

“The government does not, at present, have a youth jobs plan,” Genuis said. “We do. We are putting forward the Conservative Youth Jobs Plan in hopes that the government will incorporate these good ideas from the Conservative Party into their upcoming budget.”

Liberals’ Response

Meanwhile, the Liberal government says it is already taking steps to combat youth unemployment, and criticizes the Conservatives’ proposals.

“These are challenging times, but we are acting with urgency and purpose,” Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu’s press secretary, Jennifer Kozelj, told The Epoch Times in an Oct. 15 email. “Our message to youth is clear: we’re not just creating jobs, we’re building real career pathways that last.”

The Tories are “offering nothing new” in their Youth Jobs Plan, Kozelj said, noting their proposal “recycles old ideas and ignores the modern realities of today’s workforce.” She added that the Conservatives have voted against supports that young Canadians need, such as expanded student financial aid and investments in education and training.

The Liberal government has youth-specific programs and strategies that have created more than 130,000 job opportunities for youth this year, including Canada Summer Jobs, the Student Work Placement Program, and the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, she said.

Other supports include $1 billion in federal spending on apprenticeships each year and a 40 percent increase in grants for full-time students through the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program, Kozelj added.

She also said Canadians are “always first in line for jobs,” noting the temporary foreign worker program is a “last resort option” for employers who can’t find qualified Canadians and permanent residents to fill job vacancies. The temporary foreign worker program represents approximately 1 percent of the Canadian workforce, she noted.

Matthew Horwood and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.