Ottawa, ON, May 26, 2026— The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations welcomes the recent report on youth employment in Canada by the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA).
CASA’s Chair, Abdul Abbasi, had the privilege of appearing before the HUMA committee on October 9th 2025, to speak to the issue of youth employment in Canada and its particular effect on post-secondary students. CASA’s remarks before the committee recognized the importance of work-integrated learning in addressing rising youth unemployment, particularly through programs such as the Student Work Placement Program (SWPP). CASA emphasized the importance of providing permanent and expanded funding to this program, which would provide predictability to business owners in forming long-term labour models that allow for the consistent hiring of students.
During our appearance, CASA also spoke to the importance of skilled trades recognition. In order to ensure a strong skilled workforce for the future, CASA recommended incorporating procurement metrics into public infrastructure contracts that would ensure a minimum number of apprentices were hired on public contracts.
Further, CASA addressed questions regarding the importance of foreign credential recognition, and emphasized the importance of simplifying credential recognition systems, ensuring the successful labor market integration of newcomers.
CASA was pleased to see several of our recommendations were maintained in the final report, and urges the government to take them into consideration in order to address rising youth unemployment in Canada and to maintain the possibility for businesses to offer paid internships.
“Canadian students are facing high rates of unemployment and this report shows that the committee has heard us” said Abdul Abbasi, Chair of CASA. “ We are encouraged to see that our recommendations on SWPP, the skilled trades, and foreign credential recognition were implemented by the committee. We thank the committee for their work and we urge the government to turn these recommendations into action so that the next generation of Canadian workers can build their future and build Canada's future as well.”
As student leaders from across Canada gather in Ottawa this week for CASA’s first conference of the year, this report marks the close of a successful year for students and signals the beginning of a new chapter, with renewed momentum and continued student-led advocacy.
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About CASA
Established in 1995, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations is a non-partisan, not-for-profit national student organization composed of 25 student associations across the country. Through our partnership with the Quebec Student Union/Union étudiante du Québec, CASA represents 365,000 post-secondary students across Canada.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
Mariam Trifess
Communications & Public Relations Officer
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (438) 225-4492
