Youth Jobs Crisis Deepens
Ottawa, ON – Garnett Genuis, Conservative Shadow Minister for Employment, released the following statement on the latest Labour Force Survey:
“Statistics Canada has confirmed what young Canadians and their families already know: the Liberals’ economic failure has created a deepening youth unemployment crisis. Youth unemployment climbed from 14.5 to 14.7 per cent in September, the highest since 2010 outside the pandemic years.
“Students trying to balance school and work are in an even more desperate position, with 17.1 per cent unable to find a job. In Ontario alone, more than 17,000 young people have lost their jobs in the last month. Unemployment in Ontario is over 700,000, up 83,000 year-over-year. Windsor unemployment is over 10 per cent, and Toronto is at record levels, up 46,000 year-over-year.
“This follows a brutal summer for youth as the unemployment rate for returning full-time students averaged 17.9 per cent, the highest rate since the Great Recession, excluding the first year of the pandemic. Young Canadians trying to pay tuition, gain experience and start their lives have been completely abandoned.
“Even those who get educated are struggling. Roughly one in six workers with postsecondary credentials are in jobs unrelated to their training, as new graduates are unable to build careers in their fields.
“Instead of creating opportunity, the Liberals have driven away investment, smothered small businesses with higher taxes and red tape, and refused to align training and immigration with labour market realities.
“They deserve more than unemployment lines and broken promises. That’s why Conservatives are committed to restoring opportunity for the next generation by cutting taxes to help businesses grow and higher and let workers keep more of every dollar they earn.
“It’s time that the government recognizes the unemployment crisis their policies have caused and reverse course. Canadians deserve a government that will restore this country’s promise.”