Career Focus

The Career Focus program provides financial assistance to contribution recipients to offer post-secondary graduates opportunities to obtain career-related work experience. The objective of this program is to help youth acquire advanced employment skills and facilitate their transition to a rapidly changing labour market. This program connects youth with employers who can provide them with career-related work experience.

The Basics:

• Contribution recipients can be a business, an organization (such as a not-for-profit, professional, or labour organizations, or employers), institutions (public health or educational), band/tribal councils, Aboriginal organizations, or municipal governments.

• Financial assistance can also be provided for national projects. To be eligible for national funding, organizations must provide activities in three or more provinces or territories.

To qualify for Career Focus, youth participants must be:

• Between 15 and 30 years of age (inclusively);
• Post-secondary graduates;
• Out of school;
• Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or persons who have refugee status;
• Legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations; and
• Not in receipt of Employment Insurance benefits.

For more information and to apply, interested businesses and organizations should:

• Call 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232), TTY: 1-800-926-9105;
• Visit the How do I apply for career opportunities under Career Focus? page in the For Youth and Students section of the Service Canada Web site; or
• Visit a Service Canada Centre.

Other 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.

• 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 to 30 through the Canada Summer Jobs program.

• Advertise summer job opportunities for students by contacting your local Service Canada Centres for Youth (SCCY) (open from early May to August each year).

• Young Canadians between the ages of 15 and 30 who are unemployed or under-employed can acquire the experience and skills they need in the labour market by working as interns in host federal government organizations through the Federal Public Service Youth Internship Program (YIP).

• If you are a full-time student, you can post your resume at the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) Web site and apply for student jobs with the federal Public Service of Canada.

• Students and recent graduates can find summer job and internship opportunities from across Canada through the Young Canada Works program from Canadian Heritage and Parks Canada. This program includes opportunities to improve second language skills, work in heritage preservation and work within Canada's National Parks system.