INTRODUCTION

In recent decades, the labour market has undergone major changes in many countries around the world. Today, many young Canadians are having trouble entering the labour market when they finish school. The diversity among young Canadians means that the challenges they face are equally as diverse. One multi-faceted question has emerged: how can Canada help young people transition from school to work? To contribute to this important discussion, the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee, or HUMA) studied different types of experiential learning and how these could help with school-to-work transitions. On 9 November 2017 the Committee decided to undertake a study on experiential learning and pathways to employment for Canadian youth.[1] The Committee identified a number of themes to explore during its study:

• Youth unemployment and how it harms the transition to the workforce;
• Youth underemployment after completing their education;
• Apprenticeships;
• Co-op programs and work-integrated learning;
• Volunteerism and internships and how they inform work decisions for students;
• Entrepreneurship; and
• The school-to-work transition strategy in Canada compared with international models and programs.[2]

The Committee held eight meetings on this topic and received 24 briefs. It received input from various federal departments and agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, union associations, employers and researchers that shared their experience and expertise on this topic.[3] The Committee would like to sincerely thank them for their valuable contributions to this important study.

This report begins by presenting, in Chapter 1, some background information on experiential learning and the government’s role in skills development. Chapter 2 provides an overview of youth unemployment and underemployment. Chapter 3 reviews the various types of experiential learning and how they can help address the issues identified in the first part. In Chapter 4, issues facing vulnerable youth and youth who are under-represented in the labour market (Indigenous youth, immigrant youth, youth with disabilities), as well as youth in minority linguistic communities, are discussed in greater detail. This chapter also looks at targeted measures that can improve outcomes for members of these groups. The report wraps up with Chapter 5, which introduces some examples of international models that could be used as inspiration as Canada continues to reflect on the school-to-work transitions for young Canadians.

The Committee hopes that this report will help inform the renewal of the Youth Employment Strategy that is underway, as well as the continuous development of skills development programs and initiatives for Canadians.

CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Overview of Experiential Learning

Experiential learning, learning by doing, work-integrated learning̶ the terminology varies, but one thing is clear: young Canadians would benefit from having better access to these types of opportunities, which give them on-the-job experience to make their school-to-work transition easier.

Although there is no common definition of experiential learning or work-integrated learning in Canada, one was suggested to the Committee:

[T]he process through which students come to learn from experiences in educational and practice settings. It includes the kinds of curriculum and pedagogic practices that can assist, provide, and effectively integrate learning experiences in both settings.[4]

Experiential learning, the term we will use in this report, takes many forms, but they share a few key aspects:

• partnerships between educational institutions, employers and communities;
• the authentic and productive nature of the experience and engagement with the workplace; and
• student outcomes that lead to employability.[5]

Experiential learning includes co-operative education, internships, community service learning, applied research, work experiences, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship.[6] More information about these types of experiential learning is given in Chapter 3.

With regards to post-secondary students, the Business/Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) estimates that approximately half of Canadian university students participate in some form of work-integrated learning[7], while between 65% and 70% of college and polytechnic students participate in such programs.[8]

Experiential learning has many benefits, including:

• developing skills that improve employability;
• developing professional networks;
• for paid positions, making post-secondary studies more affordable and lowering debt levels; and
• providing a way for students to explore their interests and learn about their strengths and weaknesses.[9]

There is an emerging consensus that experiential learning is an effective way to prepare young people for the labour market and address youth unemployment and underemployment.[10] Moreover, educational institutions, employers, students, organizations serving youth and the federal government all agree that there need to be strong links between education, training and the working world.[11] Yet, it is estimated[12] that less than half of young Canadians have access to programs that prioritize this approach.[13]

According to the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, “[f]airly compensated experiential learning opportunities, including paid internships, co‑ops and work‑integrated programs for course credit, offer exciting avenues for helping to address unemployment and underemployment.”[14]

A number of Canadian organizations believe that educational institutions, employers, unions, the various levels of government and other stakeholders must cooperate to facilitate the transition from school to work.[15]

The Federal Government’s Role in Training

In Canada, per section 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867, the constitutional authority to make “laws in relation to education” rests with provincial governments, with some exceptions.[16] The federal government has jurisdiction over educational matters only as they relate to other federal heads of power. For example, the federal government is responsible for the education of Registered Indigenous people on-reserve, personnel in the armed forces and the coast guard, and inmates in federal correctional facilities. In addition, in accordance with the federal spending power (which is “the power of Parliament to make payments to people or institutions or governments for purposes on which it does not necessarily have the power to legislate”[17]), the federal government provides financial support for post‑secondary education through the Canada Social Transfer.[18] It should also be noted that, while the regulation of labour relations over most areas of the economy falls within provincial jurisdiction in accordance with section 92(13) of the Constitution Act, 1867, the federal government has control over employment on or in connection with the operation of any federal work, undertaking or business.[19]

In this way, the federal government is involved in several significant policy areas that intersect with post-secondary education, training and employment. This includes economic policy, human resource development, Indigenous affairs and school-to-work transitions. Its indirect role aligns with its interest in addressing market failures for human capital formation and research.

During her appearance before the Committee, the Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, spoke about the “critical role” the federal government plays through Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) and Workforce Development Agreements (WDAs) with the provinces and territories. These transfer agreements ensure the provinces and territories “have the support they need to pursue skills training in a way that’s relevant to them.” The Minister believes the federal government can complement the services provided by the provinces and territories for skills development:

We also are very concerned about young people who fall through the cracks of provincial programs and who maybe aren’t getting those services in a way that makes sense to them, and we think we can be a partner and augment what provinces are doing. We know that we have provincial jurisdiction to respect, and we of course do that, but we have an opportunity to work with our provincial and territorial partners to make sure we leverage what they’re doing and ensure that people who, for one reason or another, may not be able to access services through their provincial or territorial services have another place to go, and that would be their country.[20]

Officials from the department of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) believe that the Student Work Placement program established by the federal government this year is a good example of an initiative that respects federal jurisdiction in the area of skills development. They explained that, to encourage businesses to offer more internships, the federal government is focusing its investment on the employer side, by giving them wage subsidies to offset their financial risk. As the federal government does not intervene in the management of post-secondary institutions such as universities and colleges, it established a dialogue with the provinces “to reflect on investments in post-secondary institutions, co-op programs, and co-op offices at post-secondary institutions.”[21] According to ESDC officials, these conversations have already borne fruit in Ontario, New Brunswick, and Quebec, which “are considering or have already announced direct investments in post-secondary institutions.”[22]

The Federal Government’s Youth Employment Strategy

One of the primary ways the federal government is involved in skills development is through its Youth Employment Strategy (YES). As described by ESDC, YES is a horizontal initiative involving 11 federal departments and agencies.

In 2016–2017, investments in programs related to YES (Skills Link, Career Focus, and Summer Work Experience) exceeded $350 million.[23]

The Strategy comprises three program streams offered by Service Canada:

• Skills Link, which “provides funding for employers and organizations to help youth facing barriers to employment develop the broad range of skills and knowledge needed to participate in the current and future labour market.”
• Career Focus, which “provides funding for employers and organizations to design and deliver a range of activities that enable youth to make more informed career decisions, develop their skills and benefit from work experiences.”
• Canada Summer Jobs, which “provides funding to help employers create summer job opportunities for students.”

The three streams are currently being reviewed in preparation for the launch of an update to YES in 2019–2020.[24]

CHAPTER 2: YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF BETTER LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION

Youth Unemployment

Historically, the unemployment rate among young Canadians aged 15 to 24 has been approximately twice as high as that of the rest of the population.[25] In recent years, the unemployment rate has been about 7% for all Canadians and 13% for those aged 15 to 24.[26]

That 13% is in line with the average unemployment rate for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries in 2016. Canada’s unemployment rate for this age group in 2016 was well below the average rate in the Euro zone (20.9%), but was higher than the rate in Germany (7%) and the United States (10.4%).[27]

In all OECD member countries, youth have higher unemployment rates than the rest of the population. Available data show that, in 2011, the gaps between unemployment rates of those two groups were similar in Canada and the United States (approximately double), even larger in Italy, the United Kingdom, and France but smaller in Germany and Japan.[28]

In Canada, more than one quarter of unemployed youth (aged 15 to 24) are entering the labour market for the first time, most often after completing their education, and they experience periods of unemployment of varying duration before finding their first job.[29]

According to ESDC, “[n]early four in 10 recent graduates in Canada take more than three months to land their first job, with one in 10 taking longer than a year. Moreover, perception from industry is that young people exiting post-secondary degrees are not job ready.”[30]

Furthermore, young workers are also more than twice as likely to be laid off as other workers. The main reason for this is that they generally have less seniority than other workers and are thus the first to be laid off as a result of workforce reductions.[31]

The representative of the Urban Worker Project expressed concerns about the inaccessibility to Employment Insurance (EI) for “those between short term contracts or gigs”. He stated that “[w]e would need to over haul the EI system to include more workers and consider other income security measures for those outside of the employer/employee relationship.”[32]

However, youth on average experience shorter periods of unemployment than other workers because they generally find new jobs quickly and many go back to school.[33]

In recent years, temporary employment has been on the rise both in Canada and in many OECD countries. Among Canadians aged 15 to 24, approximately one-quarter of full-time employees, students excluded, were working in temporary jobs in 2016. In 1989, that figure was under 10%.[34]

Youth Underemployment

Unemployment alone is not always the biggest concern for young people: underemployment must be considered as well. In its report Youth Unemployment in Canada: Challenging Conventional Thinking?, the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA‑Canada) explains that underemployment comes in various forms, including the underutilization of both skills and labour.

Underutilization of Skills

The underutilization of skills occurs when workers occupy positions that do not require their level of education or experience, or fall outside their area of expertise.

The data cited below from CGA‑Canada show that the level of education in Canada has risen sharply since 1990 but that the proportion of lower‑skilled jobs has not declined in a correlative manner. The following figures illustrate that gap for workers aged 15 to 24 and those aged 25 to 29.

Figure 1—Changes in the Proportion of Lower skilled Jobs and Lower skilled Workers – Canada, 1990–2011, Young Workers Aged 15 to 24

Source: Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, Youth Unemployment in Canada: Challenging Conventional Thinking?, p. 34.

Figure 2—Changes in the Proportion of Lower skilled Jobs and Lower skilled Workers – Canada, 1990–2011, Young Workers Aged 25 to 29

Source: Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, Youth Unemployment in Canada: Challenging Conventional Thinking?, p. 35.

When it appeared before the Committee, the Réseau des carrefours jeunesse-emploi du Québec said that the labour market in Canada and Quebec is becoming polarized. Representatives explained that the number of jobs in the intermediate category is shrinking:

A set of middle-class jobs are disappearing, resulting in increased demand for highly skilled jobs or under-qualified jobs. This is where the problem arises because a multiplicity of well-paid and stable jobs have disappeared. We also note that young people who leave school with degrees do not have suitable opportunities, since these jobs have disappeared. They must therefore turn to underemployment.[35]

According to a study conducted by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) in 2015, over qualification among recent Canadian university graduates has risen over the past 25 years. The PBO defines overqualified workers as those whose highest educational attainment exceeds that usually required for their occupation.

“PBO finds that between 1991 and 2014, the proportion of recent university graduates aged 25 to 34 who were overqualified based on their educational credentials increased from about 32% to 40%.” About 600,000 university graduates in that age category were overqualified in 2014.[36]

Some 140,000, or 56% of recent university graduates aged 24 or younger, were overqualified in 2014. If university graduates aged 24 or younger who were unemployed in 2014 are included, roughly 65% of university graduates aged 24 or younger were either overqualified or unemployed in 2014.[37]

The PBO also said that fewer college graduates are overqualified. “In contrast to recent university graduates, [their] rate of over-qualification … declined from 37% in 2006 to 34% in 2014, roughly equivalent to mid‑1990s levels.”[38]

CGA‑Canada explains that underemployment has many lasting negative consequences including lower earnings for workers, the deterioration of skills, and the fact that it is impossible for workers to take continuing education that would enable them to update their skills and acquire new skills in their fields. Underemployment can also cause psychological stress and have a negative impact on employees’ physical health. Employers may find it difficult to retain overqualified employees, and that undermines retention of the knowledge and corporate memory of their business.[39]

Underutilization of Labour

Labour is underutilized when workers who want to work full time must settle for part‑time employment because they are unable to find full‑time work.

In Canada, youth and women are more likely to be working part-time involuntarily. In 2014, 9.9% of young workers aged 15 to 24 worked on an involuntary part‑time basis, compared to 4.5% of workers aged 25 to 54. Some 7.1% of women also found themselves in this situation, compared to 3.6% of men.[40]

Data from the Labour Force Survey show that, in 2016, 42% of employees aged 15 to 24 working part-time who were not full-time students reported that they worked part-time due to business conditions or because they could not find full-time work.[41]

According to Statistics Canada, for young people aged 15 to 24 who were not full-time students, the labour market has changed in three key ways, both in Canada and in many other OECD countries:

• Full-time jobs have generally become scarcer than they were in the mid‑1970s.
• The percentage of full-time, permanent jobs fell.
• These changes in job types tended to reduce wages for many young workers.[42]

It is important to mention that these changes affected young women and young men differently. Young women saw their cumulative earnings increase more than those of their male counterparts since the mid-to-late 1970s. One reason is that young women increased their educational attainment, and thus their ability to hold highly paid jobs, faster than young men over the last four decades. In addition, as they became more career-oriented than previous generations, women aged 25 and over moved away from part-time jobs and gained seniority in their jobs, which led to an increase in annual wages compared with the mid-1970s.[43]

Labour Shortages

Paradoxically, while many young people are facing unemployment and underemployment, Canadian employers are reporting labour shortages.

For example, according to the Independent Contractors and Business Association of British Columbia, the vibrancy of the construction industry is hindered by the severe skills shortage:

Across the broad range of trades, especially in the core construction trades, shortages of glaziers, pipefitters, sheet metal workers, electricians, and plumbers are widespread, slowing down growth in some firms and leading to potential forgone opportunities for growth and job creation.[44]

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) echoed this thought, telling the Committee that its members have repeatedly said that “skills gaps and the challenge of finding the right workers are some of the biggest issues they face.”[45] According to the CCC, “[w]ork-integrated learning is crucial for bridging those gaps and connecting talented young Canadians to long-lasting, high-quality careers.[46]

Mismatch Between Chosen Education and Available Jobs: The Importance of Better Labour Market Information

Various witnesses pointed out that the career information available to young people, parents, teachers and guidance counsellors does not give a true picture of the Canadian labour market.[47] As a result, many young people cannot make informed decisions about their future career path.

The CCC emphasized that “information needs to be gathered and disseminated more effectively”:

The pathways between education and employment are less obvious today than they have been previously. Data needs to be gathered in more detail to guide students between their educational programs and gainful employment. Many industries are clamouring for workers and particular skills, but students lack reliable information on what those are and how to join them.[48]

The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) explained that it had developed tools like CareerBuild, which “provide[s] current labour market statistics and trends relating to various occupations linked to educational programs, which assist students with decision‑making.”[49] Students “have access to data to explore and compare post-secondary programs and relevant occupations within their region and on a national scale.”[50] In addition, according to BCIT, its services allow for “the assessment of existing skills and credentials, and their mapping into post-secondary frameworks. This ensures that Canadian youth (both born and naturalized) can embark on the most expedited route to new skills and credentials, without redundant learning and wasted time.”[51]

A number of witnesses indicated that the lack of information and data was particularly striking for apprenticeships.[52] The representative from the United Association Canada (UA Canada) said that many apprentices turn to the trades in their late 20s, after already getting a university or college diploma that did not lead to a job. According to UA Canada, the advice that students get on career choices “does not include trades, apprenticeships, or technical careers because of the traditional push for higher education.” UA Canada believes that something needs to be done to keep so many young people from spending years studying in fields with no prospects and going into debt to do so: they need information early on to set their direction.[53]

The representative from Canada’s Building Trade Unions echoed these words. He said that high-achieving students are encouraged to go to university, even if there are no jobs in those fields, and even though many trades are in high demand and careers in the skilled trades can be very rewarding. He attributes this disconnect to the lack of information available to young people and those who give them advice, and the fact that the trades are seen as “settling.”[54]

Committee Observations and Recommendations

The Committee believes that the federal government has a key role to play in addressing the lack of up-to-date and complete labour market information.

The Committee recognizes the efforts of the government to improve the Job Bank tool.[55] It also notes the creation of the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC). The LMIC is a non-profit organization established in 2017 with the following mandate:

To improve the timeliness, reliability and accessibility of labour market information to facilitate decision-making by employers, workers, job seekers, academics, policy makers, educators, career practitioners, students, parents and under-represented populations.[56]

The LMIC will focus on collecting, analyzing and distributing labour market information.[57]

While recognizing these important positive developments, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 1

That Employment and Social Development work with Statistics Canada to add additional questions to the National Graduate Survey and the Labour Force Survey to better capture data on a broad spectrum of experiential learning opportunities and outcomes, as well as the incidence of paid and unpaid internships. Moreover, the data collected must allow for effective comparisons between Canada and other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries.

In addition, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 2

That Employment and Social Development Canada ensure that Statistics Canada and the Labour Market Information Council deliver across all regions, through interactive platforms, up-to-date, and standardized labour market information that:

• is both accessible and engaging to youth;
• details and forecasts the skills and jobs which are in demand in their communities and nearby areas;
• clearly includes trade and apprenticeship information; and
• details the training, experience, education, competencies, and credentials that are required for different occupations.

CHAPTER 3: TYPES OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND BROAD MEASURES NEEDED TO SUPPORT IT

In course of the study, the Committee heard that there is a consensus emerging: experiential learning facilitates school-to-work transitions and helps many young people avoid unemployment and underemployment. This chapter looks at the growing body of evidence underlying this consensus, the different ways experiential learning takes place, and broad actions that the government can take to ensure that youth have more opportunities to participate in experiential learning.

According to data from the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers, 83% of Canadian educators “believe they are producing graduates that have the skills and capabilities to successfully transition from school to the workforce ready to produce on day one,” yet only 34% of employers and 44% of students agree.[58] The association believes that the industry and educational institutions too often operate in silos, which is why they continue to see things so differently. The association suggests that one possible solution lies in giving more students access to experiential learning opportunities.[59]

In 2016, members of the Business/Higher Education Roundtable (BHER)[60] announced an ambitious goal: “for 100 per cent of students in their first degree, diploma or certificate at Canadian post-secondary institutions to benefit from some form of meaningful work-integrated learning (WIL) experience before they finished school.”[61]

Pursuing a similar goal, Royal Bank of Canada conducted a major study of the Canadian workforce over the past year. One of its key findings was that employers increasingly want candidates to demonstrate “human skills,” which include “critical thinking, co‑ordination, social perceptiveness, active listening and complex problem solving.”[62] According to Royal Bank, in many cases, work-integrated learning programs are the only way for candidates to develop the skills so sought after by employers.

Take the case of PepsiCo. The soft drink and snacks company can’t find enough graduates who have the resilience and adaptability for sales, because no one teaches sales. So it recruits on campuses for personality and puts students in work-integrated training programs to develop their skills for sales, a profession that’s not likely to be automated anytime soon.[63]

As part of this study, the Committee decided to focus on four types of experiential learning: work-integrated learning during post-secondary education (including co-ops); apprenticeships; volunteerism and internships; and entrepreneurship. This section will examine the state of each of these models in Canada and the programs and initiatives offered by the federal government and other organizations. It will also lay out the Committee’s observations and recommendations.

Co‑op Programs and Work-integrated Learning in post-secondary education

Work-integrated learning, which includes co-operative education, “is a model and process of experiential education, which formally and intentionally integrates a student’s academic studies with learning in a workplace or practice setting”.[64] In co-op programs work terms are usually the length of a semester, and several work terms (e.g. three to six in Ontario) must be completed as part of the program.[65]

According to Statistics Canada, “[c]o operative education is a recognized way for students of many disciplines to graduate with relevant work experience and avoid the ‘no experience, no job’ cycle.”[66] In the class of 2009–2010, 12% of bachelor degree graduates and 22% of college graduates completed a co‑op program. In that same year, the fields with the most co‑op program graduates at the college level were “physical and life sciences and technologies,” “architecture, engineering and related technologies” and “social and behavioural sciences and law.” More specifically, “legal professions and studies,” “science technologies/technicians” and “family and consumer sciences/human sciences” had large proportions of co‑op students.[67]

At the bachelor level, the fields of study with the largest proportions of graduates from a co‑op program were “architecture, engineering and related technologies,” “mathematics and computer and information sciences” and “business, management and public administration.”[68]

ESDC listed the many benefits of co‑operative programs for the Committee: graduates with co‑op experience earn more than their peers ($15,000 more for university students and $8,000 for college students), have higher employment rates, and are more likely to have paid off their student debt two years after graduation. ESDC reported that enrolment in co‑op programs at universities jumped by 25% in less than a decade.[69]

The Waterloo Centre for the Advancement of Co‑operative Education provided the Committee with some statistics that illustrate the success of co‑operative programs. According to the centre, the post-graduation employment rate of co‑op students at 89% is similar to Ontario’s provincial average of 88%. “However, where co‑op students stand out is that 96% of them report that they are employed in positions related to skills they developed during their degree, compared to a provincial average of 74%.”[70] The witness added that “two years after graduation, 79% of the co‑op students report earning more than $50,000 annually, compared to 39% across the province.”[71]

Similarly, the Université de Sherbrooke’s statistics show that more than 50% of their students who were part of a co‑op program found a job in a company where they had done a work term. Furthermore, 98% of their students found a job in their field of study within three months of graduating.[72]

Co‑operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL) represents the universities and colleges across Canada that offer co‑op or work-integrated learning programs. CEWIL told the Committee about the benefits of these types of programs for both students and employers. Students who engage in work-integrated learning programs “gain real-world experience, develop important transferable skills, build their professional network, develop career clarity, and, in many instances, earn critical income to support their education,”[73] while employers “gain access to flexible, cost-effective, student employees, and to a high-quality talent pipeline.”[74]

The organization added that co-op placements can be an opportunity for students to relocate in rural or remote communities for periods of time ranging from four to twelve months, and that part of the job of post-secondary institutions is to reach out to employers, including in these communities, to promote taking co-op students.[75]

According to CEWIL, studies done in the United States showed that “student hires make the best source of incoming talent. Former interns receive higher performance appraisals, are promoted faster, and stay longer.”[76]

When delivered as a true partnership among the student, post-secondary institution, and employer, work-integrated learning is simply win-win-win.[77]

Given the potential value of work-integrated learning for post-secondary students, witnesses gave the Committee some recommendations for consolidating this learning model in Canada.

A National Strategy for Work-integrated Learning

Two witnesses said it is vital to create a national strategy for work-integrated learning.

CEWIL believes that a national strategy is needed “to address challenges, identify opportunities, and focus on outcomes associated with WIL.”[78] CEWIL noted that Australia created a national strategy for WIL in post-secondary education in 2015 involving its federal government, business council, chamber of commerce, and post-secondary associations and said that this is a model that Canada should explore.[79]

The University of Waterloo Centre for the Advancement of Co‑operative Education said that “building a national strategy to increase awareness, interest, and commitment to research in this area is critical to ensuring that the federal investment in creating and expanding WIL programs achieves its desired results.”[80] The centre believes that more research on WIL needs to be conducted to better understand its impact on students, community and industry partners, and academic institutions. The centre’s representative added that a national strategy “would represent an opportunity for Canada to be a world leader in the research and practice of work-integrated learning.”[81]

A Common Typology

The Business/Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) advocates that, as much as possible, all key stakeholder groups, including the Government of Canada, adopt a common definition and typology of WIL experiences which would allow for the creation of consistent evaluation metrics.[82]

Evaluation of Work-integrated Learning

Several witnesses said that the results of WIL programs need to be tracked and measured better in order to assess their impact and ensure that they stay relevant.[83]

The representative for the University of Victoria suggested conducting longitudinal research to understand the impact of WIL on student employability, workplace productivity and innovation, and the ability for students to be the leaders for the future.[84]

CEWIL recommended that the government fund the expansion of the co‑op statistics database to include participation rates in other forms of WIL, such as internships and practicums.

Strengthening Ties with Industry

Witnesses stressed the importance of strengthening relationships between industry and post-secondary institutions to support WIL programs. The British Columbia Institute of Technology explained that “[p]rograms should reflect dynamic and evolving work environments, with relevant, high-quality curricula as their foundation” and that this could be achieved by using industry to “suggest, vet and pilot content” in order to produce programming that is “applied, relevant and current.”[85]

Experiences in Canada and Abroad

Lastly, witnesses expressed support for expanding experiential learning opportunities to other provinces or countries so that young Canadians can “build global competencies that they will increasingly need in this globalized labour market.”[86]

Federal Government Programs and Initiatives

The federal government has three major programs to support university and college co‑op and work-integrated learning programs: its new Student Work-Integrated Learning Program, the Public Service Commission of Canada’s student programs, and the Canada Summer Jobs program.

Student Work Placement Program (Student Work-Integrated Learning Program)

The Student Work Placement program, sometimes known as the Student Work-Integrated Learning Program (SWILP), offers “post-secondary students in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and business programs across Canada paid work experience related to their field of study.” According to ESDC, through this partnership with industry and post-secondary institutions, over 11,500 paid student work placements will be created by this program through 2021.[87]

Employers receive up to $5,000 in wage subsidies for a placement of about four months, which is roughly 50% of the student’s salary. For students from under-represented groups, such as Indigenous students, people with disabilities, newcomers, and women in STEM, the wage subsidy is up to $7,000, or about 70% of the student’s salary. The government says it is investing $73 million in the program over four years.[88]

The witness representing the University of Victoria’s co‑operative education program praised the new program, saying that it helps with the ongoing effort to find appropriate employers who can provide the kind of environment that will allow students to learn, grow and develop.[89]

CEWIL also endorses the program and sees it as an important step towards increasing WIL participation across STEM sectors. However, CEWIL recommends that the program “also provide funding subsidies for not-for-profit organizations and public sector industries, particularly health care and community organizations where WIL opportunities for students are often unpaid.”[90]

By extending SWILP wage subsidies to the public and not-for-profit sectors, the federal government has the opportunity to introduce systemic change within these industries, encouraging and fostering a culture of paid employment for student workers, as well as providing increased support for Indigenous students and students with disabilities, who are disproportionately enrolled in programs that are currently excluded from funding.[91]

Universities Canada appreciates the Government of Canada’s efforts but criticized the fact that the program is currently limited to students in science, technology, engineering, math, and business programs. The organization noted that half of undergraduate students are in the social sciences and humanities and that although the program offers extra incentive for employers to recruit students from under-represented groups, these groups typically do not enrol in STEM programs at a significant rate. Universities Canada suggested expanding the program to include all disciplines so that more students from marginalized groups, independent of their area of study, have an opportunity to access paid placements.[92]

The executive director of internship and workplace services at the Université de Sherbrooke asked the government to ensure that the funds for the Student Work Placement program are distributed equitably in all regions of the country.[93][94]

Public Service Commission of Canada Student Programs

The Public Service Commission (PSC) of Canada administers two federal public service recruitment programs.

The Federal Student Work Experience Program hires about 7,000 full-time students yearly for summer jobs in the federal public service.

The PSC told the committee that even though it is a summer jobs program, it is flexible enough that students can continue to work beyond the end of the summer on a part-time basis. The program also serves as an excellent training ground for students who are interested in pursuing a career in the public service after graduation. Regarding the challenges ahead, the president of the PSC said that work needs to be done to raise awareness among public service managers, who are sometimes averse to taking the risk of hiring new employees externally.[95]

The Post-Secondary CO‑OP/Internship Program enables students to obtain the hands-on experience required for their co‑op program in a federal department or agency related to their field of study. The PSC representative noted that the federal government is actually the biggest employer of co‑op students in Canada.[96] The representative from the Université de Sherbrooke confirmed that the federal public service is one of the largest employers of co‑op students from that university and others, such as the University of Ottawa.[97]

The PSC stated that it plans to continue and diversify its recruitment and promotion efforts aimed at universities and students across Canada. It also intends to take steps to address under-representation of Indigenous students in applications for its student programs.[98]

Canada Summer Jobs Program

As one of the three components of the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy, the Canada Summer Jobs program offers employers funding to hire a student for an eight-week summer work term. ESDC indicated that it nearly doubled the number of summer jobs it funded in 2017, to about 65,000.[99]

Jobs with not-for-profit organizations are 100% subsidized at minimum wage, while jobs with businesses are subsidized at 50%.

ESDC said that it is trying to get businesses more interested in the program so it can increase the number of youth who can benefit: when half of the salary is paid for by the employer, the government can double the number of jobs it funds.[100]

Several witnesses said that the summer jobs program is an important and positive program. However, most noted that the eight-week term does not often meet the needs of youth.[101] Although it may work well for high school students, students attending college and university need to work for the 16 weeks they are off in the summer in order to meet their financial needs. A longer work term would also give students a richer experience, because eight weeks pass by very quickly.[102] Furthermore, the eight-week limit is a problem for employers who try to use the summer jobs program to fund a co‑op placement. The required duration for co‑op work terms is generally 12 to 16 weeks, so the student ends up working unpaid for part of the term.[103]

Some witnesses said the program should be available year-round as a student employment program, not only a summer jobs program. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations said that funding should be provided to subsidize part-time jobs from September to April.[104] Professor and researcher Wolfgang Lehmann agreed, saying:

Don’t make it a summer program. Make it a Canada youth employment program. … Part of an expanded summer employment program could also be understanding how this kind of work complements what they do at school, enabling them to see some connections between what they learn at school and what they learn at work, and to observe a skills transfer between the two. Maybe it would make school more meaningful for people who are also working if they could see how school connects to what they do in the workplace.[105]

In addition, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada told the Committee it would like part-time students to be eligible for the jobs funded through the summer jobs program. According to this organization, many low-income or newcomer youth cannot study full‑time, as they need to work to meet their living costs. They would benefit from getting access to these paid jobs.

Lastly, CEWIL and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce believe that the summer jobs program should be extended to international students:

CEWIL also encourages the government to extend funding support to include a demographic group critical to Canada’s economic success, international students. According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, 51% of international students plan on applying for permanent residence in Canada. Extending funding eligibility to this group would increase their chances of gaining valuable Canadian work experience leading to permanent residency and ultimately their ability to successfully transition into the Canadian workforce driving innovation and prosperity.[106]

Committee Observations and Recommendations

The Committee notes the many work placement opportunities created by the Student Work Placement program. In light of the testimony it heard, the Committee believes it would be beneficial to expand this program to benefit more youth from groups that are under-represented in the labour market, such as Indigenous youth and youth with disabilities. Witnesses pointed out that despite the incentives that the program offers for recruiting students from under-represented groups, the fact is that currently, youth from under-represented groups typically are not enrolling in STEM programs at a significant rate and are actually over-represented in areas of study that are not currently eligible for the program. Furthermore, these students often end up in unpaid internships with non-profit organizations and public-sector industries, especially health care and community organizations. Many students, particularly economically disadvantaged youth, cannot afford to take an unpaid placement. The Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 3

That the whole of government be encouraged to expand the opportunities available for Canadians in experiential learning. And that Employment and Social Development Canada, in particular, work through the Horizontal Skills Review, with all departments to expand and continue to support experiential learning programs, and the Student Work Placement Program in particular, and expand its reach in Canada.

The Committee also recognizes the benefits and popularity of the Canada Summer Jobs program. However, in light of the testimony it heard about the current limitations of the program, it recommends:

Recommendation 4

That Employment and Social Development Canada explore transforming the Canada Summer Jobs program into a broadly based youth jobs program for Canadian youth, which:

• supports jobs year-round;
• supports both full-time and part-time hours, that can last between eight and sixteen weeks;
• provides significantly more information to Members of Parliament, and more information about employers applying to the Canada Summer Jobs program;
• ensures a priority is placed on younger students, to help them get their first work experiences;
• institutes a trusted employer mechanism to enable multi-year funding;
• includes a priority for younger students (high-school aged);
• is available both to full-time and part-time students, and recent graduates; and
• is easy to navigate for employers and young people.

The Committee also recognizes the vital role that the federal public service plays in providing meaningful and paid work placement opportunities for post secondary students. It therefore recommends:

Recommendation 5

That the Public Service Commission work across all government Departments and Agencies to prioritize hiring to increase experiential learning opportunities for students. They should pay particular attention to increasing opportunities for youth from vulnerable populations and at-risk youth.

Examples of Promising Practices in Co‑op and Work-Integrated Learning Programs

Mitacs

Mitacs is a national non-profit organization based out of the University of British Columbia that has been offering work-integrated learning experiences in the form of research internships for 17 years.

These research internships occur in a variety of settings: in the private and the non-profit sectors, with large and small companies, domestically and internationally. The program is inclusive across all disciplines, from the social sciences and humanities to STEM, as well as multidisciplinary research. Mitacs initially focused on graduate-level students but is now open to all post-secondary students across Canada. Funded in part by the Government of Canada, the program offers 6,000 internships annually, complemented by a series of professional development and skills training workshops.[107]

The representative from Mitacs made several recommendations to the Committee, including incorporating more WIL opportunities for graduate students and recognizing research internships as valuable WIL experiences, both for students and for industry partners.[108]

Shopify’s Dev Degree program

The Dev Degree program, which was spearheaded by online commerce company Shopify, is a work-integrated learning program that offers 4,500 hours of hands-on work experience, far more than traditional co‑op programs. The program enables students to earn a computer science degree in software development in partnership with a university, namely Carleton University since 2016 and York University starting in the fall of 2018. The program administrators hope to expand the program across the country in the future.[109]

Shopify uses an eight-month work term, instead of the usual four months, to give students time to develop their skills and make a meaningful contribution. A typical week for a Dev Degree student involves three to four classes on campus at the university and 25 hours of working with teams at Shopify. The program strives for gender parity and LGBTQ+ representation among its participants. Furthermore, the students “are provided two mentors during their time in the dev degree program: a life-at-Shopify mentor, when they are working at Shopify, who is a trusted friend and guide; and a technical mentor who guides them in their daily work.”[110]

In addition to paying the students for the hours of hands-on work they do, Shopify pays their tuition. According to the representative from Shopify, “[e]ach graduating dev degree student will have received at least $160,000 in financial support.”[111] As of the spring of 2018, the program had about 20 participants and expected the number to double in the fall of 2018.

Shopify asked the government to support work-integrated learning programs like Dev Degree, which “provide[s] a truly integrated learning experience for students concurrent with their university or college studies” and “level[s] the playing field in teaching technology to groups that are typically excluded from technology.”[112] The Royal Bank of Canada also praised the Dev Degree program as an innovative program, citing it as an example of how work-integrated learning is “the great social leveler of the skills economy, opening doors for young people regardless of their background.”[113]

Riipen Platform

The representative from Deloitte suggested that Committee members examine the Riipen model, which he believes is worth scaling up “to improve youth employment outcomes on a larger scale and, more importantly, all of the opportunities for us as Canadian employers and Canadian business.”[114]

Riipen is an experiential learning web platform where employers can post real projects for university students or young professionals to complete. The projects give the students and young professionals a chance to engage in work-integrated learning, gain work experience, develop the skills sought by industry, and build a professional network. Employers gain valuable insights, build their talent pipeline, and engage with potential future hires.[115]

According to Riipen, over 12,000 students and recent graduates and more than 3,500 employers have used the platform to date, including businesses of all shapes and sizes and non-profits. Riipen states that more than 200 higher education institutions in North America actively use the platform to improve their students’ learning outcomes.[116]

Committee Observations and Recommendation

The Committee thinks these three initiatives are promising and is pleased to note that the Government of Canada already provides financial support to the Mitacs program. With a view to scaling up promising initiatives like the Dev Degree program and the Riipen platform to reach more young Canadians, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 6

That Employment and Social Development Canada examine promising initiatives, such as the Dev Degree program and the Riipen platform, as part of the renewal of the Youth Employment Strategy in order to identify ways that the government can support and promote such initiatives to make them more accessible to Canadian youth.

Apprenticeships

In Canada, apprenticeship training is one of the most common ways to help prepare individuals for a career in the trades. This kind of career is in high demand in Canada and around the world. In 2015, there were about 454,000 registered apprentices in Canada, with about 80,000 new registrations per year.[117]

In apprenticeship training, the workplace is the main place of learning; the apprentice works full time and is paid. The employer, who is called a journeyman or journeyperson, acts as a mentor, supervisor, and evaluator. The in‑school portion usually makes up 10% of the program. An industry committee typically oversees training standards.[118] Apprenticeship is regulated by each province and territory, resulting in slightly different designated trades and requirements across Canada.[119]

Since training is provided by an employer, on the job, the transition from training to the labour market is usually smooth and seamless for apprentices.[120] The vast majority of those who complete an apprenticeship program (81%) find permanent jobs. Those who finish their programs earn an average annual income of $69,512, or an average of $33 per hour.[121]

However, data show that people who have the potential to move to where the jobs are – primarily young, single men aged 15 to 24 – are the ones most likely to register for an apprenticeship. Women are distinctly underrepresented in apprenticeship programs.[122] In 2015, women accounted for just 14% of newly registered apprentices, a slight increase over 2005 (11%).[123]

Lack of information and social recognition

As noted earlier, a number of skilled trades are facing skilled labour shortages, despite attractive salaries and placement rates. The Committee learned that 78% of registered apprentices were not considering this kind of career when they were in high school[124] and that the average age of first-year apprentices is 26.[125] “This is a clear indication that career guidance provided to youth is not well-rounded enough to include apprenticeship as an equal pillar of post-secondary education.” [126]

Witnesses said there are two main reasons for this lack of interest in apprenticeship programs. First, there is a lack of adequate, accessible labour market information. While the need to have better labour market information was discussed more broadly in the second chapter[127], the Committee heard additional testimony that underlined the importance of good labour market information to encourage apprenticeship training and careers in the skilled trades.

Several witnesses reported that youth are not getting enough information about careers in the trades and the apprenticeship programs that lead to such careers. They also noted how the government can help.[128]

Despite the fact that it is a shared jurisdiction issue, the Government of Canada has a role to play in providing better data to learners, to help people make informed choices about their careers. The data that we really don’t have is on the demand side, on all the skills and such. That’s not getting to the high school guidance counsellors. That’s not getting to the parents. On the awareness piece, we need to have evidence—for example, pipefitter earning the first year after certifying. We need earning data. We don’t have it. Going to StatsCan, we still don’t have it. And that data is there. That’s one big doable to break on the awareness side.[129]

Furthermore, it was noted that the teachers and guidance counsellors advising students in schools are themselves university-educated, so universities are the pathway they are most familiar with and naturally tend to promote. For many of them, apprenticeships remain a “foreign pathway” they know little about.[130] More youth need to be exposed to the skilled trades as a pathway to a fulfilling career early on. This, in turn, may help some youth avoid pursuing a less suitable university pathway only to discover that there may not be an available job after graduation.[131]

In addition to the lack of good labour market information about apprenticeships, several witnesses noted that there is also lack of social recognition for skilled tradespeople.[132] Apprenticeship is often positioned as an option for students who may be struggling in classroom, instead of highlighting, that “[s]uperior math, science and problem-solving skills are required in a vast majority of trades occupations.”[133]

It was reported that many people place less value on apprenticeship programs than on university degrees.

[A]pprenticeships are a second-best option for a lot of families. We think of it as a career pathway that we channel people into who maybe don’t do too well at school. I think there needs to be a rethinking. There needs to be a rethinking that we look at apprenticeships as a valuable career pathway for anybody, just the same way we think of university as a pathway for which you need to qualify in certain ways.[134]

All the evidence points to the need to promote apprenticeship as a career pathway at an earlier stage. Students should be informed and exposed to this option by grade 8 (Secondary 2), the same way they are informed about other professions and professional disciplines.[135]

The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of British Columbia suggests:

working with local business communities to provide mentorship and internship opportunities that expose high school students to a range of trades training pathways from a practical perspective. In other words, if students can touch and feel the nature of work, chances are better that they will determine a pathway suited to their interests and aspirations than they will if exposure is merely provided theoretically in the classroom.[136]

Witnesses also said that youth and career advisors need to be aware of the diverse career opportunities available to journeypersons: they can become entrepreneurs, trades instructors, union leaders, or supervisors. The skilled trades are an overlooked pathway to owning and operating your own business.[137]

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum recommended promoting a career in the trades in the Youth Employment Strategy by offering educators and parents information resources to present apprenticeship programs as an equal pillar of post-secondary education.[138]

Importance of industry involvement and supports required

Several witnesses stressed the importance of involving employers and unions, as well as educational institutions and the different levels of government, to a significant degree in order to develop meaningful apprenticeship systems. Employers and workers understand the need on the ground better than anyone.[139]

Witnesses also mentioned the need to incentivize employers to take on apprentices. Many apprentices are having difficulties finding an employer sponsor, are experiencing periods of unemployment, and, while unemployed, may consider leaving the trades.[140]

According to apprentices interviewed for research, employers have concerns “about investing in young people and having that investment stolen by other employers who don’t invest.”[141] This “fear of poaching” seems to be a major issue, along with the expenses of training and “maybe not knowing whether the trained person will stay with [the employer] over time.”[142]

According to the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, “only 19% of skilled trades employers are actively engaged in apprenticeship training.”[143] The organization also told the Committee that three-quarters of apprentices are being trained in companies with fewer than 100 employees, “suggesting that the bulk of the training is occurring in companies with the fewest resources to support it.”[144]

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum called for financial support to help small and medium enterprises hire apprentices. The Chamber of Commerce emphasized the need to make the support measures accessible, because many small businesses lack dedicated human resources professionals to deal with the administrative burden of applying for funding.[145]

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum told the Committee that it is vital that “skilled trades employers, particularly those with fewer than 100 employees, be provided with access to wage subsidy programs targeting apprenticeships.”[146] According to this organization, wage subsidies for apprentices are “critical to increasing employer engagement in the first two years, when investment in training often outweighs the apprentice’s ability to contribute to their employer’s bottom line.”[147]

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business surveyed its members on the subject of hiring young workers. Its members identified two measures that would help them recruit more young workers: a one-year employment insurance holiday for hiring youth “that is easy to access and requires minimum red tape;” and/or a “training tax credit that recognizes the ongoing investments that SMEs make in hiring and training their employees.”[148]

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum also noted that both apprentices and employers would benefit from programs and services geared to matching employers with those seeking work.[149]

Lastly, two witnesses said that the federal government should focus on using its own investments to create spots for apprentices.[150] For example, the government could hire apprentices within maintenance departments, fleet management, and other roles where certified tradespeople are currently employed. In addition, on government contracts for infrastructure or procurement, contractors serving on federally funded projects should be encouraged to use apprentices where appropriate to the work.[151]

Federal government programs and initiatives

The federal government offers various apprenticeship support programs. In addition to the financial assistance available to apprentices and the support provided under the Red Seal Program, the government recently launched the Union Training and Innovation Program and announced the creation of a pre-apprenticeship program in 2018.

Financial assistance for apprentices

The federal government has various financial assistance programs for apprentices.

Apprenticeship Grants provide a maximum lifetime amount of $4,000 in the form of Apprenticeship Incentive Grants and Apprenticeship Completion Grants. In 2015, about 79,000 apprenticeship grants were awarded. Over 90% of recipients were male. Around 36% of grant recipients (or 29,000) were under age 25. Another 46% (or 36,000) of grant recipients were between the ages of 25 and 34.[152] The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations told the Committee that it believes the grant should be made available during the first year of an apprenticeship and expanded to the Journeyman year.[153]

The Canada Apprentice Loan is designed to help apprentices complete an apprenticeship program in a designated Red Seal Program trade. It offers up to $4,000 in interest-free loans per period of technical training.

The Canada Revenue Agency administers tax deductions and credits for apprentices and tradespersons, including the tradesperson’s tools deduction. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations told the Committee that it believes the maximum amount for the tradesperson’s tools deduction should be increased from $500 to $1,000.[154]

Budget 2018 announced a new Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women to encourage women to pursue careers in the 90% of Red Seal trades that are male-dominated. These women will receive $3,000 for each of their first two years of training (up to $6,000), on top of the other grants available to apprentices. The government is allocating $19.9 million over five years, starting in 2018–2019, for this new measure.[155]

In addition, the Canada Revenue Agency offers certain tax deductions to employers of apprentices.

Union Training and Innovation Program

Launched by the Government of Canada in 2017–2018, the Union Training and Innovation Program is intended “to improve the quality of training in the trades to better support a skilled, inclusive, certified and productive trades workforce.”[156]

According to ESDC, funding for the program will total about $10 million for 2017–2018 and $25 million annually thereafter. The program has two streams:

• support for cost-shared purchases of equipment and materials for training (union-led); and
• support for innovative approaches to address challenges that limit apprenticeship outcomes (union involvement required), especially barriers that prevent key groups, such as women and Indigenous people, from succeeding in the trades.[157]

Minister Hajdu said that this program is one way for the government to support unions “with both equipment and recruitment to ensure that every Canadian, regardless of their gender, their cultural background, their physical ability, or their place of birth, will have an opportunity to participate in the skilled trades.”[158]

Pre-Apprenticeship Program

Budget 2018 also announced a new Pre-Apprenticeship Program that will encourage underrepresented groups – including but not limited to women, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers and persons with disabilities – to “explore the trades, gain work experience, make informed career choices and develop the skills needed to find and keep good, well-paying jobs in the trades.”[159] The program will be administered in partnership with provinces, territories, post-secondary institutions, unions and employers. The government has allocated $46 million over five years, starting in 2018–2019, and $10 million per year thereafter.[160]

Support for the Red Seal Program

Employment and Social Development Canada sponsors a Red Seal Secretariat in support of the program. The mission of the Red Seal Program is to:

• harmonize provincial/territorial processes and requirements for skilled trades certification and standards;
• develop and maintain interprovincial standards for Red Seal trades;
• facilitate collaboration with industry to build a skilled trades labour force; and
• increase the mobility of skilled tradespersons in Canada.

According to the program’s website, there are currently 56 designated Red Seal trades in Canada. The Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA), which consists of a director of apprenticeship from every province and territory, is responsible for the Red Seal Program.

Initiatives by Other Organizations

Polytechnics Canada told the Committee that the institutions it represents are “leaders in the delivery of apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs that are targeted at non-traditional tradespeople.”[161]

The organization’s representative gave the example of the Women in Skilled Trades pre-apprenticeship program offered by Conestoga College in Waterloo. This 34-week carpenter general certificate program equips students who wish to make a career in the construction industry with the basic skills required to secure a position as an apprentice. The curriculum also incorporates components such as job search and communication skills and training in computer literacy.[162]

Two trade unions also told the Committee that they are working to modernize their approaches to apprentice training. The Canadian Welding Association explained that it is working to engage more employers and to have apprentices rotate between different employers to learn more skills.[163] United Association Canada, which represents workers in the piping trades, told the Committee that it is launching a new apprenticeship system that will combine new technologies (such as online learning and augmented virtual mixed realities) with the proven method of having a qualified journeyperson mentor the apprentice so it can teach people anywhere in the world.[164]

Committee Observations and Recommendation

The Committee recognizes that apprenticeships in skilled trades are a promising pathway that offer rewarding career opportunities for young Canadians. The Committee believes that the government must take action in two ways: attract more youth to this career pathway and increase the number of apprentice positions. The Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 7

That Employment and Social Development Canada and Finance Canada analyse and consider financial incentives for apprenticeship training that are easily accessible to employers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, such as wage subsidies and a tax credit for training investments.

Volunteerism and Internships

Youth Volunteerism

Some witnesses identified volunteerism as an opportunity to develop skills and abilities, gain experience and expand professional networks if certain conditions are met.

According to Statistics Canada, 66% of youth aged 15 to 19 volunteered in 2013, making them the age group of Canadians most likely to volunteer. Only 20% of them said they were “required” to do volunteer work.[165] Indeed, secondary school students in a number of provinces and territories must complete a certain number of community service hours in order to graduate. In provinces where the education department does not impose this requirement, some schools or programs do.

In 2013, youth aged 15 to 19 who were volunteers averaged 110 hours of community service per year, less than all other groups of volunteers, particularly those aged 55 to 74, who averaged over 200 hours per year of volunteering.[166]

According to Imagine Canada, Canadians who volunteer cite the following motivations:

• to make a contribution to the community (93%);
• to put their skills and experience to use (78%);
• they are personally affected by the organization’s cause (59%);
• to explore their own strengths (48%);
• because their friends volunteer (48%);
• to network with others (46%);
• to improve job opportunities (22%); and
• to fulfill religious obligations or beliefs (21%).[167]

However, Statistics Canada data show that almost half of volunteers under 35 were motivated by possible job prospects.[168] According to the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 55% of volunteers aged 15 to 24 reported that they had volunteered in order to improve their job opportunities. In addition, 82% of them said that volunteering had helped improve their communication skills and 77% thought they had gained interpersonal skills from volunteering.[169] Lastly, 24% of volunteers aged 15 to 24 reported that volunteering had helped them obtain employment.[170]

According to Charity Village, volunteering is a way for youth to build their skill sets, network, and add content to their résumés.[171]

In that regard, Volunteer Canada’s representative told the Committee that in order for the experience gained by volunteering to be considered as transferable to employment it is essential that specific language be used to help employers understand that the skills developed through volunteerism are the skills they are looking for. Volunteer Canada prepares descriptions of volunteer responsibilities using terms from the National Occupation Classification system, which volunteers can use to describe their experiences for employers.[172]

Volunteer Canada would also like to expand the use of the Programme d'enseignement bénévole developed by the Centre d'action bénévole de Québec. This organization gives its volunteers a certificate that not only thanks them for volunteering, but also states the skills they demonstrated in their volunteer activities.[173]

Volunteer Canada stated that people should typically be volunteering a few hours to one day a week in order not to undermine the paid workforce and not to take advantage of the desire of youth or people in transition to gain experience. “[W]e don't promote volunteering full-time. That is because it is understood that would be taking on a role that likely ought to be paid.”[174]

YMCA Canada shared with the Committee its experience with youth volunteerism. The organization pointed out that it is important to focus on the development of general skills—such as negotiating, listening, accepting feedback, and communicating openly—in volunteer activities for youth. It also indicated that it is important for volunteer activities to be meaningful and appropriate for the young person involved.[175]

Youth involvement in governance and on boards and committees is one key way that the YMCA creates meaningful opportunities for young volunteers. For example, the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Greater Toronto has a youth advisory committee composed of youth between the ages of 18 and 25. Up to three young adults will now sit on the board itself, with several youth already serving on board committees. “Experience with boards and governance helps youth build their careers by meeting staff and fellow board members at the table, who are well established leaders in their careers and communities.” [176]

However, YMCA Canada pointed out that volunteer roles with boards and governance often attract high-achieving youth who are already active in their schools and communities. The organization indicated that in order for youth at risk to find meaningful experiential learning opportunities through volunteering, more comprehensive approaches are required to address the challenges they face and to get them involved and succeeding in programs. “With appropriate resources, programs can provide supports for transportation, homelessness, or child minding for single parents. This approach, while more cost intensive, can touch more young people with initiatives”.[177]

In addition to volunteering with boards and governance, YMCA Canada underscored the potential of major events that attract large numbers of volunteers for placing young volunteers in teams with mentors from career areas they are interested in, which allows them to test assumptions about desired career paths and either validate their choices or learn that a certain career would not be a good fit, before investing in education or applying for jobs in that field.[178]

YMCA Canada believes that volunteering with its organizations lets youth expand their professional networks and acquire transferable skills that help them enter the labour market. At the YMCA of Greater Toronto, 21% of staff started off as volunteers.[179]

Internships

The definition of an internship in Canada is broad and encompasses a variety of situations. In general, an internship is a short-term, paid or unpaid, part- or full-time, public- or private-sector work experience that may or may not be part of an educational program. Its usual goal is to provide entry-level work experience to people entering the labour market or a field.[180]

Unpaid or underpaid internships that are not part of an educational program have sparked concerns in recent years regarding the potential for abuse. Legislation passed in December 2017,[181] included “measures that discontinue unpaid internships in federally regulated sectors that are not part of an educational program and provide labour standard protections to unpaid interns who are part of a formal educational program.”[182]

Internships that are not in federally regulated sectors are regulated by the employment standards legislation of individual provinces or territories. In most provinces, the law prohibits unpaid internships, with some exceptions such as internships that are part of a program of study.[183] However, not all businesses necessarily follow the rules. For example, an Ontario Ministry of Labour investigation in 2015 found that nearly one-quarter of the 77 workplaces that employed “interns” did not meet the requirements of the Employment Standards Act.[184]

The representative from Urban Worker Project told the Committee that his organization is of the view that “unpaid co-op placements and internships only exacerbate systemic inequality and we should be looking at ways to replace them altogether with paid training positions.”[185]

Professor Lehmann cautioned the Committee about the inequalities that can be created by giving increasing importance to unpaid volunteer and internship experiences. He stated:

As undergraduate degrees have become more common, employers, and admission committees to graduate and post-graduate programs, increasingly look at other things that can distinguish one candidate from another. Volunteering, preferably in leadership roles and with organizations related to one's career goal, has become one of these ways in which young people can gain distinction on the labour market. Other ways to stand out from the crowd are through job placements, internships, having studied abroad, and so forth.[186]

However, students from less privileged backgrounds who must work to pay for their education do not have the opportunity to do unpaid internships or volunteer. According to his research these university students, even though they do very well academically, must often shift their professional ambitions. The fact that they were unable to participate equally in volunteer experiences related to their field of study makes their CVs less impressive and does not help them develop the same professional networks as their peers.[187] To illustrate this point, Professor Lehmann quoted a young woman who participated in one of his studies:

People [who] have more money have such an advantage in terms of what they can do. Like, they can just volunteer with the professor in a lab in the summer, and spend their whole summer doing that ... And then there's people like me that can't do that because they have to work 60 hours a week to pay for school. I was going to volunteer in a clinic in Nepal in second year, a whole bunch of my friends from residence went there to go do medical work; they loved it. And then I ended up not having enough money to go. Which is all right, but when I'm applying to med school or grad school, it gives those people who were able to do those things in the summer a leg up, so when I'm writing my med school application, I don't look as good.[188]

Accordingly, some witnesses suggested that colleges and universities introduce initiatives to help young people develop their professional networks through means other than their personal contacts or volunteering.[189] Professor Lehmann also believes that employers and selection committees should be aware of these types of potential barriers if we want professions to reflect the diversity of the populations they serve.[190]

Committee Observations and Recommendation

The Committee recognizes the issues around unpaid internships and recommends:

Recommendation 8

That Employment and Social Development Canada work with all of government, provinces and territories, and all Canadian employers, to strongly prevent uncompensated internships in Canada. Compensation should take the form of remuneration or course credit in an educational institution but situations where only experience is offered as compensation should not be allowed.

Entrepreneurship

Several witnesses told the Committee that they have noticed more interest in entrepreneurship from young people in recent years.[191] Yet, young people who want to start up a business still face challenges. Although more than half intend to run a business some day, many are hesitant as it is perceived as being riskier than traditional employment.[192] Challenges faced by youth who wish to start their own business primarily include: “lack of knowledge of support and resources; limited social networks; shortage of investment/funding; student loan debt; and shortage of skills to cope with obstacles/setbacks.”[193]

In 2014, about 15% of small businesses and 8% of medium-sized businesses were owned by people under 40 in Canada.[194] Three percent (3%) of people aged 15–24 years old were self-employed, compared to 15% of the general population. Men were more likely than women to be self-employed: 19% of men versus 12% of women were self-employed.[195] The industries with the highest proportion of self-employed workers in 2017 were agriculture (60% of workers), professional scientific and technical services (32% of workers) and construction (28% of workers).[196]

According to the Waterloo Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education, early work-integrated learning, for example through co-operative education, could be linked to an increase in entrepreneurship. The fact that students in co-op programs acquire some business experience, often as early as at age 18, can result in their feeling they have enough experience to launch at the age of 24 sometimes, which is before they have other responsibilities that make them less risk adverse. Furthermore, co-op work terms provide good opportunities for meeting mentors and starting to develop a business idea. The Centre believes that more research is needed into WIL models that encourage students to explore their interests as entrepreneurs. [197]

Possible Opportunities in Franchising

According to statistics from the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA), over the past several years roughly 30% of the people showing interest in buying franchises were born between the early 1980s through to about 1997.[198]

Franchises represent a potential significant source of jobs for young Canadians. According to CFA, there are an estimated 1,300 franchise brands operating in Canada and they contribute more than $96 billion to Canada’s economy.[199]

According to Ann Stone, a former business executive who teaches marketing at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, the increasing role of millennials in franchising is a natural trend, as current owners age and look to sell their businesses to younger people.[200] However, young people face challenges related to having less business experience, and not having had the time to accumulate wealth for an initial investment. Therefore, some companies are starting to develop financing and training programs for young franchisees.[201]

Specific Barriers for Women Entrepreneurs

In 2015, women and men under age 35 were about equally as likely to be running an established business,[202] but young men were much more likely to be running a new business than young women. This gap was larger between women and men younger than 24.[203]

In Canada, fewer than one in six businesses (16%) are majority-owned by women, and businesses owned by women tend to be smaller than businesses owned by men, although the difference varies by industry.[204]

Federal Initiative for Women Entrepreneurs

The federal budget of 2018 pointed out that “women entrepreneurs face unique barriers in accessing capital, supply chains and export programs compared to their male counterparts.”[205] It further stated that “women entrepreneurs may also have a harder time receiving training and finding mentorship.”[206]

Thus, Budget 2018 announced a new Women Entrepreneurship Strategy:

Budget 2018 proposes to provide $105 million over five years to the regional development agencies to support investments in women-led businesses, helping them scale and grow, as well as to support regional innovation ecosystems, including incubators and accelerators, and other third-party programs supporting mentorship, networking and skills development.[207]

Initiatives Created by Various Organizations

Overview of Main Supports for Entrepreneurship

Numerous public, private, and non-profit organizations offer a form of entrepreneurship training to young people and the structure and scope of this training varies. MaRS, Futurpreneur and Enactus, to name a few, are national organizations dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship that receive federal funding.

Many local entrepreneurship projects and programs also exist across the country, and some are financed in part or in whole by the federal government, for example through the Canada Job Fund Agreements, and through Employment and Social Development Canada’s Skills Link (Entrepreneurship Intervention) and Canada Service Corps programs.

Governments also provide funding for training and mentorship through grant programs for young entrepreneurs. For example, the Young Entrepreneur Development Initiative of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency “provides financial support to not-for-profit organizations to offer business skills training, information and support to Atlantic Canadians under 35 years of age.”[208]

Also, many accredited colleges and universities offer courses that teach entrepreneurship skills. Educational establishments can also be involved in offering incubator or accelerator programs, which are generally designed to assist entrepreneurs who have already started a venture. According to MaRS:

Accelerators and incubators provide a combination of services for online and mobile startups, including mentorship, funding, networking, training and/or office space. Most accelerator programs run a few months long and they often take equity in exchange for providing their services.[209]

Some incubators and accelerators are affiliated with colleges or universities, while some are provided by for profit and non-profit organizations.[210]

Junior Achievement Canada

Junior Achievement (better known as JA) started in the United States almost 100 years ago and expanded to Canada in 1955. It is now found in 120 countries.

When the President and CEO of Junior Achievement Canada appeared before the Committee, he explained that his organization provides resources to schools across the country and serves about 250,000 Canadian youth in grades 3 through 12 each year. The JA flagship program, the Company Program, has about 8,000 high school students participating per year. Students in this program set up teams to establish and run a business for a period of about four months. This exercise allows them to see all stages of a company’s life cycle.[211]

The results presented to the Committee by JA Canada’s President are impressive. In a study of 2,000 working adults who are JA alumni, 70% felt that JA had a significant impact on their decision to complete high school and get a post-secondary education. Another 70% felt it had a significant impact on their desire to become an entrepreneur. Furthermore, graduates were 50% more likely to start their own business than their peers. The data also indicate that working adults who are JA alumni earn 50% more, are three times more likely to spend less and save more and are 20% less likely to become unemployed or need social assistance.[212]

Similar results have been reported in Sweden: one out of every four JA graduates started a business. Recognizing the economic impact of programs such as the JA program, the Swedish government began promoting entrepreneurial education across the entire school system, and JA became a regular component of high school education. With this support, 30,000 high school students participate in the JA student program in Sweden, which is 15 times greater per capita than Canada.[213]

JA Canada shared with the Committee some recommendations for improving the employability of youth and increasing the number of Canadians with entrepreneurial skills:

• financially support entrepreneurial learning opportunities for youth and promote this type of learning through education ministries, and focus on youth who have not yet given serious thought to post-secondary education or who have not yet started working;
• help connect the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Canada with school programs to inspire and educate today’s youth;
• educate parents and teachers so they understand entrepreneurship and the value of entrepreneurial skills;
• acknowledge and honour young entrepreneurial leaders via conferences and awards.[214]

Les carrefours jeunesse-emploi

Les carrefours jeunesse-emploi (CJE) are found across Quebec and have been working to foster youth entrepreneurship since 2004. For 14 years, outreach officers at each one of these youth employment centres have been working on developing an entrepreneurial culture among Quebec youth. The representative for Réseau des carrefours jeunesse-emploi du Québec (RCJEQ) stated that the organization has noted that the desire to become an entrepreneur has more than doubled in the past 14 years. In fact, one in two young Quebeckers is interested in entrepreneurship. However, that desire does not necessarily translate into action. The entrepreneurship rate is low and the CJEs are focusing on providing young people with support.[215]

For instance, the youth employment centre for the counties of Richmond and Drummond-Bois-Francs developed a workshop called “touch wood”, “where wood is used to help young people develop skills such as project management.” Young people have to carry out an entrepreneurship project. This entails finding a product to build, managing its inventory and figuring out how to sell it. The program will not necessarily lead them to a job in that field, but it will help them develop skills to obtain a job.[216]

According to RCJEQ, in Quebec alone “about 20,000 businesses will not find a buyer in the next few years and will have to close. …The solutions lie in young people, women and newcomers.”[217]

S.U.C.C.E.S.S.—Youth Business Innovative Ideas Start-Up Program

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is an organization that helps newcomers to Vancouver. In its brief, the organization outlined its Youth Business Innovative Idea Startups (Youth BiiS) program, an initiative funded by the Government of Canada through the Canada—British Columbia Job Fund Agreement.

The program strives to give youth between the ages of 18 and 29 the tools to create their own company or self-employment opportunity, and provides coaching, mentorship, networking, business workshops, business plan writing, and business visits.

According to S.U.C.C.E.S.S., young entrepreneurs need “[s]pecialized entrepreneurship programming that includes skills training, mentoring, supported access to financing, as well as ongoing support during the initial years of business start-up ...” The organization maintains that there needs to be investment in specialized programming that targets certain client groups who may experience specific challenges, such as immigrant and refugee youth.[218]

Committee’s Observations and Recommendation

As we saw earlier, particularly in the section on apprenticeships, government support can be beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses to train apprentices and expose them to the entrepreneurial spirit. In that regard, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce representative stated that:

These companies would benefit greatly from the talent, energy, and support of learners. They would also be able to provide a wide range of experiences by giving the perspective of a smaller enterprise. If we want youth to learn entrepreneurship, then there is no better place for them than working with entrepreneurs.[219]

United Association Canada’s representative stated that entrepreneurship is encouraged in the trades.

Many of our very largest contractors started out in their field of work as tradespeople[…] They learned on the job, completed further training with the UA or with other institutions, and went on to become very successful in their industry. It is a process that should be encouraged at all levels, throughout all programs, as part of the training every trades and technical student receives.[220]

Therefore, the Committee finds that the recommendations made regarding government support for apprenticeships would also foster the development of entrepreneurship among many young Canadians.

In addition, having heard the testimony indicating that business owners are getting older and some youth are having difficulty finding suitable work as they transition to the labour market, the Committee finds that programs to help youth develop their entrepreneurial skills serve a dual purpose. The Committee recognizes the funding provided by the Government of Canada for such programs as Futurpreneurs and MaRS and recommends:

Recommendation 9

That Employment and Social Development Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada review and implement changes to all training programs and services they provide, and particularly those for youth, to ensure that entrepreneurial skills are a part of every program. These programs should promote entrepreneurial skills as a key employability asset in every occupation.

Committee’s Observations and Recommendations on the Importance of Employers’ Participation

Throughout the testimony, the Committee heard how employers’ participation is fundamental to provide meaningful experiential learning opportunities for Canadians. While many companies show real leadership in their training initiatives, it was also brought to the Committee’s attention that employers’ participation is uneven. Some companies are not as involved as they could be in providing training. Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 10

That Employment and Social Development Canada collect and promote success stories in experiential learning and collect best practices to aid the many Canadian companies who are not spending enough time or resources on providing training, and particularly experiential learning opportunities, for youth and new employees. This research on best practices should focus on demonstrated successes and innovative approaches to experiential learning.

The Committee also recommends:

Recommendation 11

That Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Statistics Canada work together to collect and disseminate data on employer spending on employee training, experiential learning, employee retention and their correlation. ESDC should use this data to educate companies about the value of training in-house and providing adequate levels of ongoing employee training.

CHAPTER 4: TARGETED MEASURES FOR YOUTH FACING ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES

During the course of the study, the Committee heard that while broad based experiential learning programs are essential, we must also pay close attention to vulnerable youth and youth from under-represented groups who may require more personalized supports in order to succeed. This chapter takes a closer look at the issues related to vulnerable and under-represented youth, as well as youth from official language minority communities, and the targeted measures needed to ensure that they have access to experiential learning opportunities.

Vulnerable Youth Not Participating in the Labour Market

Various witnesses told the Committee that large numbers of vulnerable young people in Canada are unable to participate in the labour market due to their situation, which could include:

• mental health issues, sometimes undiagnosed;
• poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness;
• substance abuse issues;
• family difficulties; and
• trouble with the law.[221]

Before they can get a job and keep it, these vulnerable youth need a wide range of long-term support services tailored to their specific needs, as the representative from Réseau des carrefours jeunesse-emploi du Québec explained:

Above all, we are seeing an increase in the profile of the difficulties faced by young people who are not participating in the labour market. [T]he road to employment is inevitably long. … Young people don’t need to get jobs as quickly as possible, since they may not be able to keep them. Sustainable insertion in employment requires fairly broad support.[222]

Some witnesses also mentioned the importance of working alongside community stakeholders (e.g., guidance counsellors, social workers, probation officers, addictions counsellors) and taking a preventive approach. They believe that prevention programs for vulnerable youth are far more cost-effective and beneficial than the cost of chronic unemployment, which is often associated with social assistance and even incarceration.[223]

Federal Government Programs and Initiatives

Two key federal government programs help equip vulnerable young people to enter the labour market. Skills Link and the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program both help vulnerable youth develop the skills and knowledge they need to participate in the labour market long-term by combining on-the-job experience with other types of training.

Skills Link

Skills Link is the stream of the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy targeted at youth facing barriers to employment. The program “provides funding for employers and organizations to help youth facing barriers to employment develop the broad range of skills and knowledge needed to participate in the current and future labour market.”[224]

ESDC officials indicated that the government increased its investment in this stream from $68 million in 2014–2015 to $91 million in 2016–2017, which meant that 9,000 youth received support, an increase of roughly 2,500 over the year before.[225]

Minister Hajdu spoke about the various barriers Skills Link participants face and why it is so important not to give up on them:

[W]hen I meet some of the skills link participants across the country, I see these are the young kids of age 16 to 24 who are not in school, who are not employed, and who are often struggling with profound challenges in their life, whether it’s homelessness, substance use, poor literacy skills, or just a total lack of self-confidence. We can’t leave those kids behind, either, because if we do that, first we’re losing out on an opportunity to have all that talent contribute to the growth of our country, and then the longer people stay unemployed, the more entrenched that becomes and the harder it becomes for them to get a job.[226]

ESDC representatives gave the example of The Adventure Group Inc., a professional development company that receives funding through Skills Link. It works with 60 young people from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, including many single mothers, “to overcome multiple barriers to employment and to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to make a successful transition to work.” The program blends activities on effective communication, understanding technology, problem-solving, and digital literacy with opportunities to gain appropriate work experience.[227]

The Boys and Girls Club affirmed its support for the Skills Link program and encouraged the government to continue funding it. Its representative explained that, through Skills Link, it was able to establish partnerships with companies including Kal Tire and Cara Operations, which gave hundreds of disadvantaged youth their first work experience.[228]

The East Prince Youth Development Centre, an organization that works with young people from Prince Edward Island, highlighted the success of one of its programs, funded through the Skills Link stream. Offered for 15 years in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, the program helped many single parents on social assistance with no work experience. The Centre reported that this program’s success rate at getting participants employed was 88%. However, the organization’s representative expressed concerns about this program’s future, since she was informed that her request for funding was not approved for 2018-2020.[229]

The organization S.U.C.C.E.S.S., which works with immigrants and refugees, believes that the Skills Link program is effective but needs to be enhanced:

There are opportunities to build on these successful existing programs by expanding it to more youth and enhancing the supports available within the program to better address the changing needs of youth. This includes additional resources to facilitate more vocational, essential and soft skills training as well as greater participant supports (such as transportation, child care, work attire, living allowances) to enable youth to participate in these programs as well as to pursue further training and sustainable employment outcomes.[230]

Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program and the National Essential Skills Initiative

In addition to Skills Link, the Committee learned about another federal program that helps young adults facing barriers to employment: the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program.

According to ESDC, “[o]ne of the biggest areas for vulnerable youth is in what we call ‘essential skills,’” and they often need additional help to acquire these skills.[231]

The Government of Canada has identified nine essential skills that workers need in order to adapt to changes in the workplace and improve their labour market outcomes: reading, writing, numeracy, document use, computer use, thinking, oral communication, working with others, and continuous learning.[232]

ESDC, through the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills, “works in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, employers and community organizations to provide Canadians with the tools and resources they need to improve their essential skills.”[233]

ESDC said that the program “operates like an innovation program”:

[I]t takes promising practices and tests them to see what works best for which youth in which environment. Things that might work to teach essential skills for indigenous youth are different from what you would use with other groups of youth. It tests those and uses the results to influence programming at the provincial and territorial level.[234]

The Department provided an example of a project funded through the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program. The Journey to Success program is run by the Niagara Peninsula Aboriginal Area Management Board in partnership with Niagara College. The program offers 12 weeks of in-class training and 7 weeks of facilitated work placements. It encourages participants to pursue further post-secondary education and also incorporates cultural competencies as well as essential and employability skills.[235]

Initiatives by Non-governmental Organizations

East Prince Youth Development Centre

The East Prince Youth Development Centre mentioned that connections need to be made with at-risk youth before they drop out of high school, and that organizations need to reach out to youth in places where they feel comfortable. Its representative mentioned a program the Centre has offered for the past two years that meets this need:

For the past two summers, we’ve been delivering a program for high school students from low-income families. That seems to be helping to keep them in school. The process we’re aiming for is to put them on the path of going for post-secondary education. However, they come to us with little or no hope. They’re not involved with school sports or any other extracurricular activities, because they don’t have the money and they don’t have the confidence.[236]

Pathways to Education

Pathways to Education is a charitable organization established in 2001 that receives funding from the Government of Canada. Its program helps students in low-income communities graduate from high school and successfully transition to post-secondary education. It seeks to eliminate systemic barriers to education by providing leadership, expertise and a community-based approach proven to lower drop-out rates.[237]

This program provides a comprehensive set of academic, financial, and social supports to youth. In communities where the program is offered, graduation rates have improved by an average of up to 85%. Pathways to Education has locations in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.[238]

The ESDC representative said that “Pathways to Education is a program whereby participants from the poorest urban communities across Canada are now having above-average high school graduation rates and entries into post-secondary education.”[239]

The representative from the East Prince Youth Development Centre also mentioned the Pathways to Education program to the Committee, saying that it “is a very good start, and it seems to be doing well in all the locations where it is.” She said she was eager to see it implemented in Prince Edward Island, in order to “get more supports in the school before they become youth at risk.”[240]

Carrefours jeunesse-emploi

The Committee also heard about Quebec’s Carrefours Jeunesse-emploi, which offer a range of youth employment programs tailored to each region and what it needs; they offer services to various clients, including at-risk youth. For example, the program L’École autrement was established in the Etchemins region to encourage students who dropped out of high school to return to their studies in a different setting.[241]

Committee Observations and Recommendations

The Committee notes that many vulnerable youth in Canada are not able to participate in certain experiential learning programs – for example, apprenticeship programs, co-op programs, or internships – because of the significant barriers they face. The representative from East Prince Youth Development Centre emphasized to the Committee that some Government of Canada programs, such as Career Focus and Canada Summer Jobs, are great programs that reach a certain number of young Canadians, but they do not meet the needs of young people who are not equipped to participate in the labour market.[242] Various witnesses stressed the importance of investing in programs to reach young people who are struggling.[243]

Based on the testimony heard regarding the barriers to employment for vulnerable youth not participating in the labour market, the Committee recommends the following:

Recommendation 12

That Employment and Social Development Canada, in collaboration with other orders of government, the non-profit sector, and for-profit sector, ensure there are experiential learning pathways for non-employed youth and invest more resources for vulnerable youth not participating in the labour market.

Recommendation 13

That the Government of Canada continue to support initiatives to reduce drop-out rates and encourage students to pursue their studies, such as the Pathways to Education program.

Recommendation 14

That Employment and Social Development Canada, provinces, territories, employers, unions and educational institutions, as they work to promote and provide worthwhile experiential learning opportunities, continue to pay special attention to the unintended costs of participating in these programs and work together to help mitigate these costs (e.g. economically disadvantaged students who may not be able to afford travel to and from job sites).

Support for Integrating Youth from Under-represented Groups

Some young people have more trouble entering the labour market – not only young people without high school diplomas, as we have seen previously, but also Indigenous youth, youth with disabilities and young recent immigrants.[244]

The Boys and Girls Club of Canada described the situation of some young people that it works with:

Typically across the country you will find us located in vulnerable, at-risk neighbourhoods, so the kids we see are typically from low-income families. We see lots and lots of new Canadians, indigenous youth, and many others. We find that these kids have less social capital and they need extra help to finish high school, pursue post-secondary education, and make what is for many of them that difficult transition to employment. This is not because they are in any way less talented. Our kids live in impoverished conditions and they experience difficult social environments. They don’t have access to the same networks and leadership and learning opportunities that their more privileged peers do.[245]

The following sections address support for young people in specific groups that face additional barriers to entering the labour market: Indigenous youth, youth with disabilities, and young newcomers.

Indigenous Youth

Data from the 2016 census show that Indigenous youth between the ages of 25 and 34 have lower employment rates than the non-Indigenous population in the same age bracket. Figure 3 illustrates that First Nations youth living on-reserve have particularly low employment rates. This dynamic can be understood as the combined effect of fewer economic opportunities in many remote and isolated communities and lower levels of educational attainment.[246]

Figure 3—Percentage of Youth Aged 25 to 34 with Employment, by Indigenous Status, 2016

 

Source: Statistics Canada, 2016 Census, Product no. 98-400-X2016175.

However, according to data from ESDC, Indigenous people are well represented in the trades:

• Indigenous people constitute about 6% of apprentices in Canada, and 4% of the overall population (2016 Census).
• 74.4% of Indigenous apprentices were in a Red Seal trade (2015 National Apprenticeship Survey).
• Approximately 14% of the Indigenous population has a trades certificate (compared to 12% of the non-Indigenous population).
• 20% of Indigenous people in the labour force were employed in the occupational group Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations. In comparison, 15% of the non-Indigenous population was employed in these occupations (Labour Force Survey, 2015).
• Income disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the trades are the smallest and are narrowing the most quickly, compared to other occupations.[247]

Federal Government Programs and Initiatives to Support Skills Development for Indigenous Youth

Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy

As regards skills development for Indigenous youth, Employment and Social Development Canada officials spoke about the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS) run by the Department. Under ASETS, Indigenous agreement holders “design and deliver employment programs and services best suited to the unique needs of their clients.”

According to ESDC, all Indigenous people, regardless of status or location, may access programs and services delivered by ASETS agreement holders, which include:

• skills development;
• training for high‑demand jobs;
• job finding;
• programs for youth;
• programs for urban Indigenous people;
• programs for Indigenous people with disabilities; and
• access to child care.[248]

ESDC officials identified the BladeRunners program offered in British Columbia as an example of a promising program funded through ASETS. They explained that the program provides a full wrap-around service for youth, with integrated supports and case management. These support measures help participants overcome the various barriers preventing them from achieving their full potential.

You have to get at the desires and drivers of the youth themselves, and go through that process of what they want to do and why. There are mentors and counsellors who are there with them as they go. They are the people who are in between the youth client and the employer. … For example, if employers don’t have time and don’t want to be bothered if the youth is late or doesn’t show up or doesn’t call to explain what’s going on, then the intervenor does.[249]

The Department representatives also indicated that, as part of the Youth Employment Strategy renewal, they would look at how to adapt the approach used in the BladeRunners program to be used with various groups of young people, such as Indigenous youth, refugee youth, or youth with disabilities.[250]

First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy

The representative from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) told the Committee about INAC’s First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy (FNIYES).

As described by the Department, the FNIYES helps First Nations and Inuit youth, between the ages of 15 and 30, who are ordinarily resident on‑reserve or in recognized communities:

• develop and enhance essential employability skills;
• get exposed to a variety of career options;
• understand the benefits of education as key to labour market participation; and
• gain co‑operative education work and study opportunities.[251]

INAC delivers two programs under the FNIYES:

• The First Nations and Inuit Summer Work Experience Program, which “supports initiatives to help First Nations and Inuit youth acquire skills, prepare for full‑time employment and earn income to support post‑secondary education, through summer work experience.”[252]
• The First Nations and Inuit Skills Link Program, which “supports initiatives that help First Nations and Inuit youth acquire essential employability and job‑related skills, and to learn about job and career options, to prepare for employment and career development.”[253]

According to the Department, more than 3,500 young people participated in the FNIYES in 2015–2016. Of this number, 2,996 students (1,411 young men and 1,585 young women) took part in the Summer Work Experience stream, and 552 other students (222 young men and 330 young women) participated in Skills Link.[254] INAC informed the Committee that Budget 2017 had invested $100 million over three years in the strategy.[255]

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Housing Internship Initiative for First Nation and Inuit Youth

A representative from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) gave the Committee a presentation on the Housing Internship Initiative for First Nation and Inuit Youth(HIIFNIY). This initiative pays wage subsidies to Indigenous organizations that hire Indigenous youth between the ages of 15 and 30 to provide them with work experience or practical training in areas of the housing field such as administration, maintenance, construction, renovation, or client counselling. The purpose of the program is to help Indigenous youth pursue long‑term careers in the housing sector.

The representative from CMHC said that these internships can last anywhere from eight weeks to two years, depending on the project. She told the Committee what these internships can mean to the Indigenous youth who participate in the program:

This experience allows youth to feel a sense of pride that they are contributing to making their communities better places to live while at the same time having an opportunity to test and consider a career in housing. … The young people involved in the HIIFNIY program aren’t just building much-needed houses, they are building confidence and community.[256]

She added that, “[t]hrough 2016-17 and 2017-18 budget allocations, approximately $13 million in federal funding has been committed to this program, creating close to 1,300 internships for indigenous youth.”[257]

Skills Development Initiatives for Indigenous Youth from Other Organizations

Trade Winds to Success Training Society

The mandate of the Trade Winds to Success Training Society is to increase the number of Indigenous people working in specialized trades in Alberta. It provides a pre‑apprenticeship preparation program for Indigenous people. Participants have 14 or 16 weeks in the program to see what working in a trade is like.

The representative explained to the Committee that Trade Winds was officially founded in 2005 “as a society in Alberta through a three-way partnership with the Alberta construction trades unions training trust funds and unionized employers, three urban ASETS agreement holders … and both federal and provincial funding supports.”[258]

The program is primarily funded “by the federal skills and partnership fund of Service Canada, which is a sister program to the ASETS fund, also administered by the department.”[259]

In addition to the three urban Indigenous ASETS partners, Trade Winds also works with many of the 10 remaining rural ASETS agreement holders in Alberta, which send their members to Edmonton or Calgary for opportunities to enter the trades.[260] The organization can also deliver community workforce development projects to any interested first nations or Métis settlement in rural Alberta.

We go out to first nations communities and Métis settlements and bring the program out to them. […] the attendance of course is better because we're right in their community, […] so I'm thinking they're a little bit more comfortable closer to home. There are also probably fewer barriers as well since they are in their own home community, when you look at child care, transportation, and all of those things.[261]

Trade Winds said that, since 2006, 1,257 students have completed their pre‑apprenticeship training. The program helps participants make informed choices and choose a trade that suits them by providing professional development activities and teaching essential skills. During her appearance before the Committee, the Trade Winds representative said that the approach had to be tailored to meet the needs of participants:

Experiential learning is essential to our indigenous youth. […] The conventional elementary school learning model is not effective for adult learners. Our adult learners succeed with peer support, visual learning, movement, and, most of all, relationally with our staff. We help our learners bridge to the reality of the workplace through trades orientation so they can choose the best fit for a trade through our job-coaching and life-skills coaching. [262]

Committee Observations and Recommendation

The Committee recognizes that there are many effective and innovative initiatives that are supporting Indigenous youth to participate in experiential learning. However, the Committee also believes that more can be done. Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 15

That Employment and Social Development Canada, together with Indigenous Services Canada, set ambitious targets for all Indigenous students to have an opportunity for an apprenticeship, paid internship, co-op placement or meaningful experiential learning placement, and that these opportunities have a reconciliation and distinction-based approach.

Youth with Disabilities

Data show that youth with disabilities have a lower employment rate than the general population, particularly those with severe or very severe disabilities.

Figure 4—Percentage of People Aged 20 to 24 Who Worked in 2010 or 2011

	Percentage
People without disabilities	87%
People with a mild or moderate disability	73%
People with a severe or very severe disability	48%

Source: Statistics Canada, brief submitted to the Committee on 4 January 2018 (data from the Canadian Disability Survey, 2012).

Some witnesses told the Committee about the challenges facing youth with disabilities.

The representative from East Prince Youth Development Centre explained that, for youth with disabilities, a lack of previous work experience and difficulty obtaining appropriate accommodations at work are additional challenges that prevent them from reaching their full potential.[263]

Representatives from the Pathfinder Youth Centre Society, an organization working with vulnerable youth in British Columbia, spoke to the Committee about the challenges their participants must overcome: mental health issues, including dual diagnoses and the autism spectrum. They mentioned that sometimes youth do not have proper assessments, which leads to additional challenges.[264]

Once again, witnesses stressed the importance of using an integrated approach and providing a full range of services to these young people so that every aspect is being addressed, in collaboration with school counsellors, mental health workers, probation officers, and the provincial ministry of children and families.

With so many youth suffering with mental health problems, it hinders them from being able to develop the social skills required in the workforce, such as interpersonal skills, group work, and confidence in their own abilities. … There’s a strong need to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness and increase the accessibility of services so these youth can feel safe in expressing themselves and can seek help without fear of isolation and rejection. … Also, we believe that taking the time to figure out what the challenges are—investing the time—will help them in the long run. Sometimes the employment issue is not about employment itself, but about the life skills and about learning to cope with the daily challenges.[265]

Another witness from the university co-op sector echoed these words. He said that students would benefit if they disclosed that they have, for example, an attention deficit disorder or a mental health issue, because then the university could provide support and ensure accommodation measures are put in place with the employers that offer them internships, and the students would have a good work placement experience. However, he said that in many cases students do not come forward and say that they have a disorder, and “they start having all sorts of problems and may end up dropping out.”[266]

Representatives from the Pathfinder Youth Centre Society were in favour of programs tailored to the aptitudes and skills of an individual with disabilities. This organization has created in-house jobs for some of their youth. In addition, it has established partnerships with employees in the community, “partners who understand some of the disabilities that we’re dealing with.”[267] One project they are hoping to launch shortly is a thrift store, where young participants will have the opportunity to gain work experience in a controlled environment where they can overcome their anxiety and develop their self-confidence.[268]

Witnesses explained to the Committee that helping youth with mental health issues is extremely important to avoid triggering a domino effect. They said that many of these youth “self-medicate, which goes into the drug sector. They steal, which goes into the realm of jail time. It branches out into an evil road.”[269] According to the executive director and co-founder of the organization, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure:

At one point a few years back, it cost us $325,000 to help 45 kids in one year. … To house one youth in juvenile jail it costs $100,000. … We’re looking at 45 kids, if not saved, would cost us $100,000 each. Why not invest the $325,000?[270]

Committee Observations and Recommendation

In light of the testimony heard, the Committee believes that it is essential to support youth with disabilities, including mental health issues. The Committee recommends the following:

Recommendation 16

That Employment and Social Development Canada work with the whole of government, all orders of government, employers, and non-profits, to prevent young Canadians with disabilities from being effectively dropped from the labour market because of their disability. This has immense costs, and government investments must be put in place to ensure these workers are better integrated into experiential learning opportunities, and our labour market, for their entire working lives.

Newcomers

The Boys and Girls Club representative said that support for youth who are new Canadians should be a priority for the federal government. In her experience, schools are overcrowded and have a lot of trouble meeting the needs of children who speak neither English nor French and teaching them one of those languages. She explained that Boys and Girls Clubs see newcomers in their homework clubs every day and that they “don’t feel very bright” and are “terrified” at school because they cannot understand what is being said.[271]

According to the organization S.U.C.C.E.S.S., which assists immigrants and refugees in Vancouver, young newcomers face complex challenges in addition to the language barrier, such as personal and family settlement issues and a lack of familiarity with Canadian culture and norms. In addition, some youth – especially refugees – may have been unable to attend school on a regular basis before coming to Canada. The organization argued that, given the complex needs of these youth, a holistic approach is required to prepare them to integrate into the labour market in a lasting way.[272]

Both organizations reported that children who arrive when they are young generally do better than those who arrive as adolescents, who are more likely to drop out of school.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. explained that youth who arrive in Canada when they are older have more difficulty learning English and adapting to the local culture than youth who arrive at a younger age. “Some immigrant and refugee youth, particularly those who are more vulnerable, may end up aging out of the local education system before completing high school.”[273]

It recommended that innovative and specialized experiential learning programs be created to help older immigrant and refugee youth overcome the complex barriers they face. It proposed that these programs include occupation-specific language training tailored for youth, as well as training to help youth develop technical, soft, essential, and workplace health and safety skills appropriate for Canadian workplaces, and that they provide job search supports, employer connections, and where appropriate, volunteer and work placements.[274]

The Boys and Girls Club proposed that the Canada Summer Jobs program could be improved by opening it to youth who are not full-time students. The organization reported that many newcomer youth are not eligible for this subsidized job program, as they are not in a position to go to school full-time – they have to work to support their family. It also suggested that a new program be created alongside the Canada Summer Jobs program to help newcomer youth who are not working or going to school. The idea would be to “give them some kind of employment experience that hopefully would light a spark or help them find something they’re good at.”[275]

At the university level, the Université de Sherbrooke noted the difficulties that some new Canadians have in entering the labour market. In response, it developed a program to help international students better understand the unique features of the labour market in Canada and Quebec, including its history and the most common rules and customs. The program includes training on resumé, cover letter, and interview preparation and personalized coaching from an employment counsellor. The goal is to help these students find employment.[276]

Young Francophones in Minority Communities

The Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française told the Committee that employability is a major concern for French-speaking youth in minority communities. The Fédération said job opportunities in French are in short supply in minority francophone communities across the country.[277]

It believes that the Government of Canada should increase access to employment and training opportunities in French for young people across the country. The Fédération recommends that the Government of Canada “invest further and foremost in funding the Young Canada Works program[278] in both official languages, and in offering good paid internships for French students in francophone minority communities throughout the country.”[279]

In addition, the Fédération would like the Government of Canada to consult French-speaking youth in minority communities and to take their situation and needs into account when updating the Youth Employment Strategy.

Committee Observations and Recommendation

The Committee recognizes the challenges that youth who are part of minority populations face in gaining meaningful experiential learning experiences. Consequently, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 17

That Employment and Social Development Canada work to ensure expanded and additional experiential learning opportunities for minority populations in Canada, including official language minority communities, racialized communities, youth-at-risk, Canadians with disabilities, Indigenous communities, newcomers to Canada, and economically disadvantaged youth. Specific attention must be paid to application processes to ensure youth from marginalized communities have barrier-free access to the various programs offered.

CHAPTER 5: CANADA’S SCHOOL-TO-WORK TRANSITION STRATEGY COMPARED WITH INTERNATIONAL MODELS AND PROGRAMS

In previous chapters, we learned more about different aspects of the school-to-work transition in Canada and certain related challenges. One finding shared by several witnesses is that governments, educational institutions, and employers must work more closely to adequately prepare young Canadians to enter the workforce.[280]

Like Canada, numerous countries are currently looking at how to improve the alignment between training and the labour market. The OECD finds that “the transition from school to work has never been particularly easy, but for millions of young people in OECD countries, it has become nearly impossible” especially because “[w]ork and education are too often separate worlds.”[281]

The OECD points out that it is important for employers to be engaged in both designing and providing education programs. It indicates that education systems must be flexible and responsive to the needs of the labour market. It also stresses that “a concerted effort—by education providers, the labour market, tax and social institutions, employer and employee organisations, and parents and young people themselves—is needed … so that young people have a smoother and faster route from the classroom to the workplace.”[282]

Australia’s National Strategy on Work-Integrated Learning

Witnesses told the Committee that Australia adopted a national strategy on work-integrated learning in 2015 as a result of the collaboration between the academic world and business, and that Canada should explore this model.

The strategy examines opportunities for WIL for university students. It seeks to guide the growth of WIL and to ensure that the supply of WIL opportunities meets demand. The strategy includes an action plan with eight major themes:

• Provide national leadership to expand WIL;
• Clarify government policy and regulatory settings to enable and support growth in WIL;
• Build support—among students, universities, employers across all sectors and governments—to increase participation in WIL;
• Ensure the investment in WIL is well targeted and enables sustainable, high quality experiences, stakeholder participation, and growth;
• Develop university resources, processes and systems to grow WIL and engage business and community partners;
• Build capacity for more employers to participate in WIL;
• Address equity and access issues to enable students to participate in WIL;
• Increase WIL opportunities for international students and for domestic students to study off-shore.[283]

Youth in Education Participating in Work Study Programs

In 2015, the OECD found that less than 50% of students in vocational education and training programs, and less than 40% of students in academic programs, in the 22 OECD countries and regions covered by the Survey of Adult Skills, were participating in any kind of work-based learning at the time of the survey.[284]

The OECD data on youth in education participating in work-study is limited. Work-study programs are formal education/training programs combining interrelated study and work periods for which the student/trainee is paid. In 2016, only nine member countries provided data broken down to this level of detail. Canada was not one of them. As we have seen throughout this report, there are different estimates of the number of Canada’s youth participating in such programs. However, given the varying definitions of experiential learning and of the types of experiences they comprise, it is not possible to compare them to the OECD data.

The following figures illustrate, for men and women aged 15 to 29 in education, the percentage in a work-study program, in employment, and not employed, in the countries that collect this data.

Figure 5—Available Data on Women Aged 15–29 in Education: Percentage in Work-Study, Employment, Not Employed

Note:      Only the small group of countries above collect and publish data on youth in education, employed as part of a work study program. Other countries publish statistics more generally on youth in education employed.

Source:  Figure prepared by the Library of Parliament using data obtained from OECD. Stat, Transition from school to work, 2016.

Figure 6—Available Data on Men Aged 15–29 in Education: Percentage in Work-Study, Employment, Not Employed

Note:      Only the small group of countries above collect and publish data on youth in education, employed as part of a work study program. Other countries publish statistics more generally on youth in education employed.

Source:  Figure prepared by the Library of Parliament using data obtained from OECD. Stat, Transition from school to work, 2016.

The data represented by these figures clearly show that Switzerland and Germany stand out among all countries with respect to the proportion of their students who participate in a work-study program.

The Examples of Switzerland and Germany

Switzerland and Germany are world renowned for their dual-training systems (i.e., programs that combine workplace training with education at a vocational school).

Governance of the Vocational Training System

In both countries, vocational training is subject to tripartite governance: the legislation on vocational training establishes that it is to be carried out jointly by the State, regions, and social partners (management and labour), and provides guidelines and quality criteria for its development.[285]

At the national level, the system is managed by government agencies: the BIBB (federal institute for vocational training) in Germany, and SEFRI (State secretariat for education, research and innovation) and the IFFP (federal institute for vocational education and training) in Switzerland. The German BIBB is composed of employer delegates, labour delegates, and federal and regional delegates. Nicknamed the “parliament of dual training,” it is the place where all the actors meet, discuss and agree on the directions to take and the operations to conduct in the area of vocational training.[286] The German BIBB and the Swiss IFFP support vocational training at the national level by: developing and updating training material; conducting regular statistical analyses, as well as experiments and research; and carrying out promotional campaigns.[287] The tripartite governance also applies to regional program implementation.[288]

When Minister Hajdu appeared before the Committee, she stated that she was inspired by the close collaboration between government, employers and educational institutions when she visited Germany.

Government was there to provide some support, to provide the legislative element, and to provide some of the funding that allowed this program to go on. The employers were there in terms of their commitment to having the skills training and experiential learning on site in their shops. … That partnership we witnessed is something I think we're very interested in. We have some challenges in that we have a different set of jurisdictional realities in Canada than perhaps they have in Germany, but we think there's a very promising model in bringing together government, academic institutes such as colleges and polytechnics, and employers to create opportunities for experiential learning.[289]

How It Works: Features of the Swiss and German Programs

Once young people have completed their compulsory education in Switzerland, usually around the age of 15, they must choose either initial vocational training (dual apprenticeship training), full-time vocational school, or general studies that prepare them for university. In Germany as well, students can begin an apprenticeship at the age of 15 or choose to continue their studies in preparation for higher education. Work-based vocational training is by far the most popular choice in Switzerland and Germany: two thirds of students go this route. It is held in very high esteem in Switzerland and is often called the “royal route” to the workforce. Vocational training is deeply rooted in Swiss culture.[290]

In Germany, apprenticeship vocational training is also traditionally considered the “royal route” to the workforce. However, it seems to have been declining in popularity in recent years; according to media reports, in 2016, 43,500 apprenticeship openings went unfilled for lack of candidates. Young people are increasingly opting for university education. German politicians have indicated that the social recognition of apprenticing must be enhanced, a message that has often been heard in Canada. There is also a problem in terms of the gap between apprentice supply and demand: too many apprentices want jobs in certain fields and certain regions, whereas employers are struggling to recruit apprentices in other fields and regions.[291]

In Switzerland, initial vocational training is known as such because it can act as a gateway for students who wish to continue on to higher education. There are 230 different initial vocational training programs, in a broad range of fields, that can be provided by private companies or public institutions. The most popular initial vocational training programs in Switzerland in 2017 included: commercial employee, retail manager, healthcare worker, socio-educational assistant, IT technician, and electrician.[292]

In Germany, there are some 350 officially recognized vocational training programs.[293] The five professions that are currently most in demand are: mechatronics for air conditioning/refrigeration; geriatric nurses; train operators; industrial electronic technicians; and engineers for sanitary, heating and air-conditioning systems.[294] Students can transition seamlessly from vocational to technical training (the equivalent of a college diploma here).[295]

The witnesses who participated in the study pointed out that these systems are seamless. They told the committee about the ability to transfer credits earned in one apprenticeship to another and the mobility of apprentices within the European Union. Canada has work to do in these two areas.[296]

The large number of careers that can be accessed through apprenticeships in Europe was also identified as a positive element of the European systems compared to the Canadian system:

[I]n Europe, a banker can be an apprentice. We don’t do that here, right? Our trades professions are limited and defined … The beauty of the European model—be it in Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, or Germany—is that many more professions are apprenticeable than we permit in Canada.[297]

Canada’s Building Trades Unions believes that Canada should consider adopting an apprenticeship model similar to the one currently in place in some EU countries.

The concept of developing apprentices from the grade 8 level and providing them with a path to harness their interest in the trades is proactive and is a plan for success. Students are exposed to shop and skilled training classes as part of their schooling … This will further align them to pursue such dual-training pathways as engineer and plumber, each of which are recognized independently as professions that are valued at par with doctors, lawyers, and other professionals for their expertise. [298]

However, Polytechnics Canada pointed out that to be more like Europe in this regard we must be prepared to change the Canadian K-to-12 education model we are familiar with.

[T]hat means that by grade 8, we're going to have to tell the students to spend one day on the job and spend four days in the classroom. Are we prepared to disrupt our K-to-12 model? Until we are, we're going to be up against the same thing.[299]

Some Challenges Associated with Vocational Training Programs

Despite their many benefits, the Swiss and German vocational training programs have some disadvantages. One of the challenges for the dual system is that it is dependent on the economic situation. “When the future is uncertain, Swiss companies are less motivated to open their doors to new apprentices, even though training apprentices is profitable. In periods of economic crisis, apprenticeship spaces close down quickly, and take time to re-emerge when the economy begins to recover.”[300] It is estimated that apprenticeship training is profitable for employers when it is extended over three or four years, because there are many training costs in the first two years. The apprentice only becomes profitable as of the third year.[301]

On the other hand, according to the OECD, “[t]here is evidence suggesting that high-quality vocational education pathways, particularly in upper secondary education, can help engage youth who have become disaffected with academic education, improve graduation rates and ensure smooth transitions from school to work.”[302] Furthermore, “VET [vocational education and training] can also help to develop a highly skilled and diverse labour force, adding a range of mid-level trade, technical, professional and management skills alongside those high-level skills associated with university education.”[303]

The OECD warns, however, that “starting such a programme too early might trap young people in unrewarding fields and limit their adaptability and upward mobility.”[304] In numerous countries, a large proportion of VET students, even those in post-secondary programmes, have very low cognitive skills, particularly in numeracy.[305] The OECD therefore recommends that VET systems combine practical occupation-specific skills with a set of broader transferable skills, “so that human capital acquired in these schemes is neither too general nor too specific or narrow.”[306]

The representative for Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia expressed similar concerns regarding vocational programming within secondary schools. In his view, such programs must provide broad preparation for adaptable employment. Programs that prepare high school students for a very specific career are not effective because the economy changes quickly, and we do not yet know the jobs that will be in demand in the future. The witness gave the example of Microsoft training to repair and maintain systems, which was offered in some Canadian high schools about 15 years ago. The training focused on very specific skills that were not transferable.[307]

Rethinking Continuing Education: Lifelong Learning

Some witnesses told the Committee that Canada should rethink its approach to continuing education. Even though we generally associate the concept of work-integrated learning with students learning skills through work experiences, it is also relevant for workers who need training to update their skills.

Although the transition to the workforce is certainly crucial in a recent graduate’s career trajectory, today’s young people will no longer experience just one transition; 21^st century Canadian workers will likely go through numerous transitions in the course of their working life. A commitment to lifelong learning has to become ingrained in students as part of their post-secondary experience.[308]

According to Colleges and Institutes Canada, [g]raduates must understand that their education and training will be ongoing: through workplace training, through online learning or through a return to formal studies…” [309] The organization also believes that “strategies to assist [the young person’s] entry into the labour force … must also ensure that opportunities are in place for periodic retraining, upgrading and upskilling.”[310]

Therefore, Colleges and Institutes Canada recommends that the Government of Canada, in partnership with post-secondary institutions and the business sector, develop “a comprehensive federal-provincial approach to lifelong learning, including financial support for a lifelong credit system, flexibility of course models and easy access for working people, work-integrated learning and broad skills training options.”[311]

The representative from Deloitte also made similar comments:

[W]e believe we can start by taking concrete steps to eliminate the distinction between pre- and post-career training, and reimagine Canada's education system with a focus on lifelong learning.[312]

This witness spoke about the creation by his firm of Deloitte University North, a “learning and leadership development centre where we offer a curated, experiential learning program that gives our people the opportunity to learn and develop capabilities throughout their career.”[313] Indeed, Deloitte believes that Canada must “empower a wider range of organizations to provide education and skills training accreditation” than just traditional educational institutions.[314]

He cited as an example the SkillsFuture program launched in 2015 in Singapore. In January 2016, all residents of Singapore over the age of 25 received an initial credit of 500 Singapore dollars (approximately 470 Canadian dollars), which never expires and is to be used to access continuing education and skills development opportunities. This amount is credited to their SkillsFuture account, which they can access through an online portal. The government will provide periodic top-ups and an additional subsidy is available to workers considered to be in the middle of their career (40 years of age and older) to cover up to 90% of the cost of approved courses. The credits must be used to pay for courses approved by the government. In the first year of the program, 126,000 Singapore citizens accessed one of the 18,000 approved courses offered by more than 700 approved training providers.[315]

Deloitte’s representative believes that, without copying exactly what Singapore has done, Canada needs to establish the next steps for investing in lifelong skills development for Canadians within our own context.[316]

CONCLUSION

During this study, the Committee learned that young Canadians, who do not constitute a homogeneous group, have different needs when it comes to skills development, and various types of experiential learning can benefit everyone. Groups of Canadian youth who face greater obstacles need more comprehensive support for different aspects of their lives to ensure their long-term integration into the workforce.

Furthermore, each of the different types of experiential learning studied by the Committee—apprenticeships, co-op programs and work-integrated learning, volunteerism and internships, and entrepreneurship programs—can make a significant contribution to the development of skills that Canadian youth need to successfully integrate into the workforce. Moreover, these different types of experiences have one thing in common: they absolutely require the close collaboration of employers and unions, educational institutions, governments and community stakeholders to achieve their full potential.

In light of the testimony it has heard, the Committee has made 17 recommendations concerning elements that could be improved in order to maximize the potential benefits inherent in these models of experiential learning. The Committee hopes that this report will be useful to the renewal of the Youth Employment Strategy and to the ongoing development of skills development programs and initiatives for Canadian youth.