Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program: National or Regional

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) is a new, integrated strategy, which aims to provide flexible and holistic services to support all young Canadians develop the skills and gain paid work experience to successfully transition in the labour market. The YESS has been redesigned to respond to a range of labour market challenges faced by youth, particularly for those facing barriers to employment. The Skills Link, Career Focus, and Summer Work Experience (excluding Canada Summer Jobs) programs that were previously under the Youth Employment Strategy umbrella have been merged into one integrated strategy.

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) program will provide up to $600M in funding to organizations to deliver a range of activities that help youth overcome barriers to employment and develop a broad range of skills and knowledge in order to participate in the current and future labour market. Support will be tailored to the needs of youth that are facing barriers to employments. Youth who face barriers often include youth who are early leavers from high school, recent immigrant youth, youth from visible minority groups, youth living with disabilities, single parent youth, youth living in low-income households, youth experiencing homelessness or precarious housing, and youth living in rural or remote areas. For these youth, barriers often intersect and they are more likely to be among the youth population who are involuntarily not in employment, education or training (NEET). Acknowledging that some Indigenous youth face unique circumstances, the YESS is designed to maximize opportunities for them, including more culturally-specific supports and services.