FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OTTAWA, June 18, 2014 – The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is encouraged to see several of its recommendations included in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance report on youth employment in Canada released this month.
“We are delighted to see that the committee has put forward a comprehensive study on the issue of youth employment and includes many of CASA’s policy recommendations”, said Travis Gordon, Board Chair for CASA. “Youth employment and unemployment remains an important issue in Canada with the youth unemployment rate standing at nearly 14%.” [1]
Among the 23 recommendations outlined in the report, CASA is pleased to see a call for the federal government to increase the amount of employment income that students can earn before their financial assistance under the Canada Students Loan Program is reduced.
CASA also supports the committee’s recommendation for the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to improve education and labour market information for secondary and post-secondary students. There are serious information gaps in the area of youth employment. This includes a lack of nationwide data pertaining to factors that influence Canadian employers’ choices with regards to hiring youth.
The recommendations underlined in this report call for a continued federal action on student employment. “We are optimistic that this report has tangible solutions that will help all youth gain the experience they need to fully participate in the Canadian workforce”, notes Gordon. CASA has produced a backgrounder further outlining the committee’s recommendations.
A backgrounder with additional policy and research is available.
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About CASA
Established in 1995, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit national student organization composed of 22 student associations representing 280,000 post-secondary students from coast to coast. CASA advocates for a Canadian post-secondary education system that is accessible, affordable, innovative and of the highest quality.
FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Jonathan Champagne, Executive Director
Email: [email protected]
Office: 613-236-3457 ext. 222
Mobile: 613-266-2272
[1] Labour Force Survey May 2014