Government of Canada provides opportunities for youth in skilled trades and STEM in Yukon

April 12, 2018

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell and Karen Barnes

Whitehorse—Building a strong middle class means giving Canada’s youth the tools they need to find and keep good jobs.

That’s why Larry Bagnell, Member of Parliament for Yukon, on behalf of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, announced a new project today that will give youth in Yukon job skills training and hands-on work experience.

Through the Building Northern Capacity in Environmental Monitoring project, 9 post-secondary graduates will gain practical experience in STEM and the skilled trades. For 12 weeks, these graduates will be able to apply their knowledge and learn about the workplace in environmental monitoring, while developing skills that will benefit their community.

The Government of Canada will provide more than $165,000 in funding for this project through the Career Focus program of the Youth Employment Strategy. Career Focus supports projects that help post-secondary graduates transition to the labour market through paid internships, and helps to provide them with the information and experience they need to make informed career decisions, find a job and/or pursue advanced studies.

This investment builds on a successful project recently completed at Yukon College, called Building Northern Apprentices. With funding of over $1.1M under the Flexibility and Innovation in Apprenticeship Technical Training (FIATT) program, this project used innovative and flexible ways of teaching to reach Indigenous apprentices from rural and remote communities in Yukon and start them on their path to becoming certified plumbers, oil burner technicians, electricians and carpenters.

Quotes

“We know that our communities are healthier and stronger when everyone can fully participate. Supporting youth as they move into the workforce is a key way we can grow our economy and strengthen the middle class.”

– The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

“I am proud to highlight a project that provides youth with the opportunity to explore their professional interests while improving the skills that will help them land a job in their field of study, specifically those in demand in Yukon. Projects like this enable young Canadians to turn their ambitions into reality.”

– Larry Bagnell, Member of Parliament for Yukon
 

“This project will provide diverse, hands-on work experience in a variety of settings to rural Yukon students who are enrolled in the Environmental Monitoring program. Together, the program and this work experience are building capacity in Yukon First Nations and communities to staff environmental monitoring positions with qualified Yukoners.“

–Dr. Karen Barnes, Yukon College President and Vice Chancellor

Quick Facts

  • Canada’s future prosperity depends on young people getting the education and work experience they need to succeed. Each year, the Government invests over $330 million in the Youth Employment Strategy to help young people gain the skills and work experience they need to find and maintain good employment.

  • Through Budget 2018, the Government provides an additional $448.5 million over five years, starting in 2018–19, to the Youth Employment Strategy. This funding will support the continued increase of the number of job placements funded under the Canada Summer Jobs program in 2019–20.

  • Budget 2017 invested an additional $395.5 million over three years. Combined with Budget 2016 measures, these investments will help:

    • more than 33,000 vulnerable youth develop the skills they need to find work or go back to school;
    • create 15,000 new green jobs for young Canadians; and
    • provide over 1,600 new employment opportunities for youth in the heritage sector.

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