This summer has been one of the toughest in decades for young Canadians trying to find work. According to Statistics Canada, only 51.3% of returning students aged 15 to 24 were employed in July a staggering drop of 6.8 percentage points from last year. That’s the lowest employment rate for students since 1997, if you set aside the unique disruption of the pandemic in 2020.
Let that sink in. For more than 25 years, young people have not faced a summer job market this bleak. These are the months when students usually save up for tuition, rent, and the coming school year. Instead, many are being shut out of opportunities that past generations could count on.
And it’s not just students feeling the pinch. Recent immigrants many of whom came here with the promise of opportunity are being disproportionately affected. Their unemployment rate has climbed by 3.1 percentage points over the past year, a sign that the weakening economy is hitting those who can least afford it.
Meanwhile, the overall unemployment rate held steady at 6.4% in July, with the economy shedding a modest 2,800 jobs. On paper, that might not sound catastrophic. But behind the numbers are real stories: students unable to pay for school, families juggling multiple part-time jobs, newcomers struggling to gain a foothold.
The Bank of Canada’s decision to hold interest rates at historically high levels may be aimed at cooling inflation, but it’s also leaving workers especially young ones out in the cold. Over the past year, the unemployment rate has climbed nearly a full percentage point, and the burden isn’t being shared equally.
This isn’t just an economic issue it’s a social one. When students can’t find jobs, they take on more debt or scale back their education. When newcomers can’t secure work, their path to stability is delayed. In both cases, Canada loses out on the talent, energy, and potential of people who want to contribute.
If we don’t start paying attention to the cracks forming in the labour market, we risk creating a generation of young people and newcomers who feel excluded from the opportunities this country prides itself on offering.
Canada owes them better.
