In addition to traditional job offers, the federal government has announced the establishment of the Canada Summer Jobs program. Something to cheer up many employers who will benefit from financial assistance.
Canada Summer Jobs is an initiative that is part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy that aims to provide flexible and holistic services to help all young Canadians develop the skills and gain paid work experience to successfully transition into the labour market.
The objectives of the Canada Summer Jobs program are consistent with the new Youth Employment and Skills Strategy and are as follows. It is about providing quality work experiences for youth, responding to national and local priorities in order to improve access to the labour market for youth who face unique barriers and providing opportunities for youth to develop and improve their skills.
The Canada Summer Jobs program provides wage subsidies to encourage employers to create jobs for young people. This program provides funding to not-for-profit organizations and public and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees to create quality summer work experience for young people ages 15 to 30 years old. Funded employers are not restricted to hiring students. Anyone between the ages of 15 and 30 can be eligible participants.
To achieve the objectives of the program, the Government of Canada aims to ensure that youth job opportunities funded by the program take place in a safe, inclusive and healthy work environments, free from harassment and discrimination. To support Service Canada in screening and assessing the eligibility and quality of each project, the funding application form collects information about your company’s health and safety practices, work environment policies, supervision and mentoring plans, skills development plan and other details related to both your organization and the proposed job.
Employer Flexibilities
As part of CSJ 2020, the ministry introduced temporary flexibilities to respond to the needs of employers and youth in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will continue to offer these temporary flexibilities for 2021 in order to continue to support employers and youth.
Wage subsidies
Funded public and private sector employers will be eligible to receive a wage subsidy reimbursement of up to 75% of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage. Under regular rules, private and public sectors employers are only eligible to receive up to 50% of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage.
Part-time employment
All funded employers may offer part-time placements (for example, less than 30 hours per week). Under regular rules, all CSJ-funded employment has to be full time (a minimum of 30 hours per week).
Employment period
All funded employers may offer job placements between April 26th , 2021 and February 26th , 2022. Under regular rules, all CSJ-funded positions have to be completed during the summer months.
Changes to project and job activities
All funded employers may amend project and job activities if the proposed project is impacted by COVID-19 restrictions after an agreement is signed. In such cases, the employer should contact Service Canada to discuss potential amendments. All changes must be approved by Service Canada.
