December 2, 2024 Gatineau, Quebec Employment and Social Development Canada
Following the tabling of the 2024 Fall Report of the Auditor General of Canada, the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, issued the following statement:
"A summer job can be a stepping stone to a successful career. Summer jobs allow young people to develop new skills, build their confidence, and explore their career interests. They also put money in their pockets to cover expenses, save for the future, or fund further education. That is why, each year, the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program supports the creation of quality summer jobs for youth-more than 383,000 summer jobs have been created since 2020.
I welcome the Auditor General's report on this program. Its findings demonstrate that CSJ is still a very desirable, and meaningful, program for Canada's youth. In particular, the Auditor General has found that youth who participated in the program benefited from better long-term earnings than non-participants. This is wonderful to hear. Additionally, I want to highlight that CSJ has consistently exceeded its hiring goals. In 2023, CSJ surpassed its target of 70,000 job placements, and, while results are still coming in for this year, we are on track to meet or exceed that goal again this year.
At the same time, the Auditor General has highlighted many ways in which we can continue to improve the CSJ program to meet the evolving needs of Canada's youth and employers, including by working with our provincial and territorial partners to improve our understanding of these needs. The report also provides recommendations on how to better support employers who are seeking to hire youth who face barriers to employment. This work is already underway, and I am confident that we will make improvements before the start of the hiring season in 2025.
I remain fully committed to supporting youth on their path to success-young people contribute vital skills and fresh ideas to the workforce, which helps strengthen our economy. I am proud of the difference that the CSJ program has made in the lives of so many of Canada's youth, and I thank Auditor General Hogan and her team for their work, which will help us make CSJ stronger, more inclusive and more effective."
