With the youth unemployment rate in Canada reaching its highest level since 2016 and Toronto’s number exceeding the national average, young job seekers are finding it challenging to secure employment. A case in point is Christine Erhirhie, a first-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga, who has been looking for a summer job since February without success. According to Statistics Canada, in April 2024, Canada’s youth unemployment rate was 12.8 per cent - the highest since July 2016, discounting 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. There has been a year-on-year increase in the national unemployment rate, with a 3.5 per cent increase for young women and a 2.3 per cent increase for young men. Toronto’s youth unemployment rate was even higher in April, at 16.8 per cent.

The youth labour market in Toronto seems to be following similar trends to the national average. Timothy Lang, president and CEO of Youth Employment Services, attributes this to the city’s large population and the influx of people flocking to the city for work. The increasing number of millennials and generation Z within the population and the stagnating numbers for baby boomers and generation X compound the job competition issue.

Many young people, like Erhirhie, continue to seek work through online searches, campus job postings, retail in local malls and stores, workshops for enhancing resume and LinkedIn profile, and reaching out to hiring managers personally. They view employment important not only for contributing to the workforce but also as a means to afford their upcoming tuition costs.

If you find yourself or a loved one struggling to secure a job and in need of assistance from Employment Development Department (EDD), know that there are resources to contact them. You can navigate through the issues of unemployment and secure aid with their assistance. Learn how to contact a live person at EDD California by visiting websites such as eddcaller.com, which provide straightforward guidance to get through to customer service.