Although Canada’s labour market is recovering faster than that of many other countries, the unemployment rate for youth remains high. The Toronto Community Foundation’s annual statistics show that the unemployment rate for Canadians aged 15-24 peaked at 18% in 2012. Figures for Toronto’s youth unemployment are close to 20.75%, and for recent immigrants in the Toronto Region, it was 14.6% in 2012. Moreover, an examination of Canada’s last three recessions shows a pattern in which youth have consistently experienced the highest unemployment rates compared to other groups in Canada.
I recently attended to Social Planning Toronto’s 2013 Research Roundtable, co-hosted by Social Planning Toronto and Toronto Workforce Innovation Group. It attempted to explore overall trends in youth unemployment in Canada and Ontario. The main argument of the event was that youth are experiencing unique barriers to entering the workforce and are struggling to find lasting and meaningful jobs. Although many factors contribute to this increase, such as the recent economic recessions and changing nature of employment trends, speakers identified the following issues as affecting youth’s participation in the labour market:
- Many youth do not have sufficient information on how to access career development services.
- Youth who leave school early are over represented in low skilled jobs.
- There is a gap between employer’s expectations for first or entry-level jobs and youth’s qualifications.
- More unstable temporary, part-time, and precarious work.
So what does it all mean for Jane and Finch community?
The majority of low-income racialized youth reside in what the City of Toronto designated as its 13 “priority neighborhoods”; in other words lower income communities with, often poor access to services. Jane and Finch, being one of these neighborhoods, is unfortunately prone to unemployment, too. Youth in Jane and Finch community are confronted with the challenge of obtaining decent jobs with a livable wage in a Canadian labor market which is often subjected to racially exclusive hiring practices. As Irwin Elman, one of the speakers of the event argued, the racial barriers to employment equity negatively impact the health and well-being of youth making them more vulnerable to living in poverty. In addition to poverty, the social reality of unemployment creates more social issues such as violence and safety and over-representation in the criminal justice system in Jane & Finch community.
Possible solutions to increase employment opportunities that are given by speakers at the Social Planning Research Roundtable ranged from changes to public policy to new and more insistent strategies that are supported by government but implemented through businesses, these were key points made around what is required to empower more young people to succeed in the new economy.
I, personally think local social action, such as The NOISE Project, can be another way to raise the issue of unemployment in Jane and Finch community. It creates awareness and motivates youth from Jane and Finch and other communities to take action and focus on solutions that address the root causes of social issues. NOISE, as a social action project, is a meaningful platform for youth to raise some of their concerns around unemployment with the support of YorkUniversity and its many partner agencies.
~ Sev Arslan