The federal government has announced temporary changes to the Canada Summer Jobs programme in an effort to encourage youth employment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government projects that the earmarked C$263 million in funding will create up to 70,000 jobs for young people.

The Canada Summer Jobs programme is intended to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged between 15 and 30 years by providing wage subsidies to the following employers:

  • not-for-profit organisations;
  • public sector organisations; and
  • private sector organisations with 50 or fewer full-time employees across Canada.

The temporary changes to the programme include:

  • increasing the wage subsidy for private and public sector employers, so that they are also eligible to receive up to 100% of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage for each employee. The 100% minimum wage subsidy was previously available only to not-for-profit employers;
  • an extension to the end date of employment from 28 August 2020 to 28 February 2021 to reflect delays to the start date of summer jobs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • allowing employers to adapt their projects and job activities to support essential services; and
  • allowing employers to hire staff on a part-time basis (ie, fewer than 30 hours per week). Employers were previously required to provide full-time positions (ie, between 30 and 40 hours per week).

Other eligibility requirements, including the required duration of employment (ie, between six and 16 weeks), currently remain unchanged.

Job placements under the programme can begin as early as 11 May 2020.

The call for Canada Summer Jobs applications for the 2020 season ended on 28 February 2020. However, the government stated that it will work with members of Parliament to identify organisations providing essential services that could offer young people jobs but that did not previously apply for the programme. The government also stated that it will work with employers to ensure that work options reflect public health requirements and advice relating to COVID-19.