Employers of Youth

Below is a list of programs and services specific to the needs of employers. Be sure to check out our general audience pages as well for more information on Jobs, Education, Careers and Money.

The Government of Canada created the Youth Employment Strategy (YES) to help young Canadians (aged 15 to 30) obtain career information, develop skills, find good jobs and stay employed. Employers seeking to hire young Canadians can apply for funding through the programs listed below.

Youth Employment Programs:

  • A wide range of community organizations can apply for funding to assist youth facing barriers to employment through the Skills Link program.
  • Businesses and other organizations can receive contributions toward offering post-secondary graduates opportunities to obtain career-related work experience through the Career Focus program.
  • Create a summer job for students! Canadian employers, not-for-profit organizations, public sector and smaller private sector employers (50 or fewer employees) can apply for wage subsidies to create career related summer jobs for students between the ages of 15 and 30 through the Canada Summer Jobs program.
  • Youth Awareness is intended to address specific labour market issues facing communities and can be used to develop and implement human resource strategies to meet employers' current and future human resource needs.  The expectation of Youth Awareness is that employers and communities will develop a heightened awareness of youth as the workforce of the future.
  • Could you re-train your employees instead of laying them off? Employer Sponsored Training (EST), a component of Labour Market Partnerships (LMP) measure, is an employment program of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) that provides financial assistance to eligible employers to support approved training activities for employees who have been identified as facing a loss of their employment.

Employers should read the terms of each program carefully before submitting an application for funding.

Job Advertisements:

Employers can advertise jobs for youth through the Job Bank Web site.

Employers and youth can get further assistance either by calling Service Canada, toll-free, at 1-800-622-6232 or by visiting a Service Canada Centre.