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Canada's youth job market slumps most among major economies
Canada's youth job market slumps most among major economies

Toronto Sun

time2 days ago

  • Business
  • Toronto Sun

Canada's youth job market slumps most among major economies

While Canada's youth jobless rate of 13.4% in the first quarter wasn't the highest in the OECD it rose the quickest Published Jun 26, 2025 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 4 minute read One in seven Canadian youth can't find work. Photo by Graham Hughes / Photographer: Graham Hughes/Bloo Young Canadians are facing a labour market that has deteriorated faster than in any other major advanced economy. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Over the past two years, unemployment among 15 to 24 year-olds in Canada jumped 3.6 percentage points, the sharpest increase among the 25 largest economies in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development — including the US, UK and Australia. While Canada's youth jobless rate of 13.4% in the first quarter wasn't the highest in the OECD — Spain's was 26.2% — it rose the quickest of the leading nations. Among all 38 OECD countries, Canada still had among the biggest jumps, behind only six nations including Finland and New Zealand. And much of the pain unfolded before US President Donald Trump's tariffs began pummeling hiring and investment. Sharp increases in post-pandemic immigration and an economy that is highly sensitive to US trade policy appear to be driving the employment decline. A cooling economy, business closures, rising automation and shifts in consumer behavior are all rapidly depleting jobs for young people. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As of May, one in seven Canadian youth can't find work, and they're more than twice as likely as other age groups to be unemployed. Outside of the pandemic, the last time their jobless rate was this high was during the global financial crisis — and an expected tariff-driven downturn doesn't bode well for their futures. This is the first summer Lorenzo Eby, a 17-year-old high school student in Toronto, is seriously searching for a job. But after two months and some 200 applications, he has yet to hear back from a single employer. 'Even my brother — who's older than me, 21, and looking for full-time jobs — can't find anything,' Eby said. The teenager is heading back to finish high school at the end of the summer and hopes to study engineering in university, but his job prospects after that are unclear. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I don't know how that's going play into things — having an actual degree — and whether I'm going to end up applying for the same job I am now, but with more qualifications.' At the start of summer job season last month, the unemployment rate among returning students ages 15 to 24 reached 20.1%, a 3.2 percentage-point jump from a year ago. 'A 20% unemployment rate for any group looks like a recession,' said Armine Yalnizyan, economist and Atkinson Foundation fellow on the future of workers. 'That's not a healthy sign for a labor market. And as we try and skate our way out of whatever the trade issues, we're not entering a happy period of the Canadian economy and young people are taking it on the chin.' Influxes of foreign students and temporary workers helped push Canada's population growth rate to among the world's highest in 2023, causing the number of people looking for work to surge. Since then, the Liberal government's immigration pullback has started to temper the gains. Still, the youth unemployment rate has stayed near the current level for much of the past year. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Declining employment in sectors that typically hire youth — including retail, food and accommodation — now appears to be playing a key role. A slowing economy due to the trade war, combined with increased automation and shifting consumer habits, seem to be wiping out jobs in the sectors, increasing competition among students and graduates alike. 'Youth are more likely to be job seekers. They're more likely to be in and out of the labor market because they have less experience and might not be employers' first choice,' said Brendon Bernard, senior economist at job-listing website Indeed. 'Youth are the ones who benefit when employers are looking to hire a lot, and are the ones who are hit harder when employers' hiring appetite pulls back.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But even young people who aren't hunting for a job are struggling. Limited opportunities for career and income growth and higher costs for housing and other essentials have resulted in lower living standards. That's a reality for Adrian Penny, a self-employed video producer who's renting what he suspects is 'Canada's smallest apartment' — it can fit inside a parking space. When Penny was let go from an architecture firm, he wanted to start his own videography business. But then the pandemic began. After being forced out of an apartment so the owner could move back into the unit, and facing post-Covid rent surges elsewhere, he decided to make a 95 square-foot space his home and office. That has kept his housing expenses at about C$700 ($510) a month. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'If I were working full-time, having a steady paycheck every two weeks, I'd probably wouldn't be in this apartment. Because of the unpredictability of my income, I really like not having to worry too much about paying rent,' he said. 'I look at myself as a starving artist. In my mind, it lets me justify sacrificing luxury in order to create.' While gross domestic product in the first quarter outperformed expectations, economists in a Bloomberg survey anticipate two quarters of contractions starting in April. They expect Canada's overall unemployment rate to rise to as high as 7.8% by year-end, reaching the highest level since early 2011 outside of the pandemic, from 7% currently. GDP growth is seen averaging 1.2% in 2025, a deceleration from 1.6% last year. 'When you're hovering around 1% growth, it doesn't take much to knock you over into a recessionary period,' Yalnizyan said. 'Recessions are never good for young people. But we have been looking at youth unemployment rates being much higher than they were historically even before the recession was on the horizon, so you know it's going to hit that group harder.' Sunshine Girls Music Canada Toronto Raptors Relationships

Weather plays havoc with Fete nationale events in Quebec
Weather plays havoc with Fete nationale events in Quebec

Toronto Sun

time4 days ago

  • Climate
  • Toronto Sun

Weather plays havoc with Fete nationale events in Quebec

Published Jun 24, 2025 • 1 minute read A person holds a Quebec flag on Saint-Jean-Baptiste day in Montreal, Saturday, June 24, 2023. Photo by Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL — Thunderstorms and heavy rain dampened Fete nationale festivities in Quebec's provincial capital region on Monday. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account About 15 minutes before a concert was set to begin on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, organizers cancelled the event and evacuated the area due to extreme weather that brought thunder, lightning and heavy downpours. The violent thunderstorm that swept through the Capitale-Nationale and the Chaudiere-Appalaches region just south has left more than 70,000 customers without power in the Quebec City area on Tuesday. Quebec is also facing heat warnings as it celebrates its national holiday. Montreal will be hosting a parade beginning at 2 p.m., followed by an evening concert at Parc Maisonneuve featuring artists such as Robert Charlebois and Sara Dufour. This year's celebrations will commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the first performance of Gilles Vigneault's song 'Gens du pays,' which is often considered the province's unofficial anthem. Quebec says nearly 650 events are happening across the province to mark the holiday also known as St-Jean-Baptiste Day. Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA World World Relationships

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