Young Canadians Struggle to Find Employment

April 2, 2026

For many Canadians, Spring has traditionally been the time of year that signals fresh starts, blooming flowers, and preparation for the warm summer months ahead. However, Stephanie has heard from many youth within the constituency who have shared their unemployment experiences — and one thing has become quite clear: this Spring is shaping up to be a stressful one.

What was once achievable for Canadian youth, is now being met with extreme frustration. Despite applying online, in-person, or attending local hiring fairs, youth are not hearing back from employers. Since early 2023, Canada’s Labour market has been worsening for youth and Carney’s policies are failing to improve the prosects for young Canadians:

In the first three months of 2026, unemployment has skyrocketed and in just one month 108,000 full time jobs and almost 50,000 youth jobs were lost.
According to Statistics Canada, the youth unemployment rate is up to 14.1 percent – an overall upwards trend by 1 per cent each year.
Canadian students are experiencing an 18 per cent jobless rate. This is directly linked to the 150,000+ suspected cases of fraud in the government’s foreign student work permit programs (2023-2024) that were found in the Auditor General’s recent report.
Young people are now faced with the added pressure of a labour force competition of over 1.5 million Canadians looking for work.

Stephanie has expressed that she does not take this national issue lightly. As a mother, she can relate to the stress and worry parents are experiencing as they watch their children struggle. Conservatives will continue to fight for this generation of young people who are deserving of good paying jobs and bright futures.

For youth currently looking for employment, a great resource is the Young Canada Works Program which offers information on short-term jobs and internship programs. This program can be found here