Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers, and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees, to help create summer job opportunities for students. The program also delivers important and diverse community services that can range from youth services organizations, to summer camps to services for seniors. Students learn transferrable skills such as public speaking, time management, self-confidence, and organizational skills.

The Government of Canada announced on February 12, 2016 that it will double the number of summer jobs from over 34,000 in 2015 to nearly 70,000 in 2016, 2017 and 2018. New funding will be allocated to Canada’s 338 constituencies on the basis of the most recent Labour Force Survey and the census. As a result, constituencies with higher levels of unemployed students will receive a greater allocation than constituencies with lower levels of unemployed students. The annual budget for Canada Summer Jobs will increase by up to $113 million for each of the next three years, beginning in 2016-17.

Not-for-profit organizations may be eligible for up to 100 per cent of the minimum wage and up to 100 per cent of mandatory employment-related costs. Public-sector and private-sector employers are eligible for up to 50 per cent of the minimum wage.

Employers approved for funding must agree to hire youth who are:

• between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of employment;
• registered as full-time students in the previous academic year and intending to return to school on a full-time basis in the next academic year;
• Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or have official refugee protection status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and
• legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations.

Applications will be assessed and participating Members of Parliament will ensure that local priorities are reflected, using the following criteria:

• service to local communities;
• jobs that support local priorities;
• jobs that support national priorities;
• jobs that provide career-related experience or early work experience;
• jobs with a salary that contributes to the student’s income;
• employers who provide supervision and mentoring;
• project activities that are directed toward members of, and support the vitality of, an official language minority community; and,
• employers who intend to hire priority students (students with disabilities, Indigenous students, and students who are members of visible minority groups).

Examples of local priorities may include:

• special events (sport, cultural or other events on a local, provincial/territorial, national or international scale) including Canada’s 150^th anniversary of Confederation;
• locations (such as rural or remote areas or areas of high unemployment); and,
• sectors (such as tourism, culture, agriculture, private sector).

Employers can apply online at servicecanada.gc.ca/csj. Information about accessing this application is available by calling 1-800-935-5555, or by visiting any Service Canada Centre.

Employer applications must be submitted by March 11^th, 2016.

The announcement is the first of the Government of Canada’s commitments to youth made under the New Plan for a Strong Middle Class, which also includes expanding the other components of the Youth Employment Strategy and pre-apprenticeship training.