Experiential Learning and Pathways to Employment for Canadian Youth Written Submission to Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities Contact Information Queenie Choo Chief Executive Officer S.U.C.C.E.S.S. 28 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6B 1R6 604-408-7272 queenie.choo@success.bc.ca
Summary of Recommendations As one of Canada s largest immigrant and refugee-serving agencies, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. submits the following recommendations to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities for consideration in their study Experiential Learning and Pathways to Employment for Canadian Youth. The following recommendations are aligned to three themes of the study. Theme: Youth underemployment after completing their education 1. Support underemployed youth to pursue long-term career goals and pathways Theme: Youth unemployment and how it harms transition to the workforce 2. Build on existing programs that are effective in supporting youth to achieve employment 3. Adopt a wraparound approach to address complex needs of unemployed youth 4. Increase specialized programming for older immigrant youth with unique barriers to employment in Canada Theme: Entrepreneurship 5. Expand specialized entrepreneurship programming for youth The recommendations are expanded upon on the following pages. 2
Recommendations Theme: Youth underemployment after completing their education 1. Support underemployed youth to pursue long-term career goals and pathways Many employment programs for youth, including those for youth with higher levels of education, focus on supporting youth to overcome their employability barriers to achieve initial labour market attachment, which is often in jobs that under-utilize their education and skills. Most programs are not funded to provide youth with additional services to support job retention or to build long-term career pathways and goals. Without these additional supports, many youth find that they continue to be employed in jobs that under-utilize their skills, which are often lower-paying and precarious. There needs to be programming that continues to support youth after they have achieved initial employment, whether it is in part-time entry-level employment or full-time employment. Youth need support to build long-term career goals and to develop and implement pathways to achieve their goals. This includes access to additional skills training to upgrade their vocational, essential, and soft skills as well as ongoing career mentoring to support growth. Programming should also extend to include employers to support them to hire, retain, and develop youth to grow in their workforce for long-term careers. Theme: Youth unemployment and how it harms transition to the workforce 2. Build on existing programs that are effective in supporting youth to achieve employment The federal government currently funds a number of highly successful Skills Link youth employment programs across Canada and has done so for many years. Many of the Skills Link service provider organizations have significant experience and expertise in supporting youth to achieve labour market attachment and have developed significant local support networks that include employers, professional associations, training institutes, community organizations, and mentors. These programs, which combine both employability skills training and work experience components, support youth to enhance their skills, knowledge and capacity in an experiential learning context and many youth achieve employment or return to school for additional training after completing the program. There are opportunities to build on these successful existing programs by expanding it to more youth and enhancing the supports available within the program to better address the changing needs of youth. This includes additional resources to facilitate more vocational, essential and soft skills training as well as greater participant supports (such as transportation, child care, work attire, living allowances) to enable youth to participate in these programs as well as to pursue further training and sustainable employment outcomes. 3. Adopt a wraparound approach to address complex needs of unemployed youth In addition to job search barriers, many youth experience additional needs that hinder their employment outcomes. For example, among more vulnerable youth, this can include health challenges (physical and mental), substance abuse, family breakdown/challenges, criminal record, etc. i Immigrant and refugee youth may have English language barriers, personal and family settlement challenges, and lack of familiarity with Canadian culture and norms. Some youth, particularly refugee youth, may have had sporadic/interrupted education prior to arriving in Canada. Given the complex needs of youth, wraparound approaches are needed to support youth to achieve sustainable employment. This includes programming that not only supports job readiness, employability and work experience, but that also connects youth to other services that address barriers such as health (mental and physical), family issues, substance abuse, legal issues, English language 3
barriers, personal and family settlement issues, housing, cultural adaptation, self-esteem and confidence, etc. Addressing these issues holistically not only support employment outcomes, but it also empowers youth to increase their resiliency to address challenges in the future. 4. Increase specialized programming for older immigrant youth with unique barriers to employment in Canada Many immigrant and refugee youth arrive in Canada when they are older; Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data released on Open Data Portal indicates that of new immigrants who arrived in Canada from 2014 to 2016, 28% were youth age 15 to 29. ii Many youth who arrive in Canada when they are older tend to have greater difficulties, including lack of familiarity with Canadian culture and local support networks and more challenges learning English language skills and adapting to local culture, as compared to youth who arrived at a younger age. Some immigrant and refugee youth, particularly those who are more vulnerable, may end up aging out of the local education system before completing high school. For example, research has found that refugee youth are almost five times more likely to leave high school before receiving their diploma as compared to other immigrants. iii Innovative and specialized experiential learning programs are needed to engage and address the complex barriers experienced by older immigrant and refugee youth such as occupation-specific English language training tailored for youth. This type of programming not only supports youth to develop English language skills for employment, but it also includes the development of technical, soft, essential, and workplace health and safety skills for Canadian workplaces as well as the provision of job search supports, employer connections, and where appropriate, volunteer and work experience placements. Theme: Entrepreneurship 5. Expand specialized entrepreneurship programming for youth The need to promote youth entrepreneurship goes beyond supporting youth to become self-sufficient; it is extremely important to the Canadian economy as well. As Canada 2020 points outs, older business owners are retiring, which can increase risks to the economy if there are no new entrepreneurs to take their place. iv Many youth have aspirations for entrepreneurship; over half of youth in Canada intend to run a business someday. v However, many are hesitant as it is perceived as riskier than traditional employment. vi Challenges faced by youth entering entrepreneurship include lack of knowledge of support and resources; limited social networks; shortage of investment/funding; student loan debt; and shortage of skills to cope with obstacles/setbacks. Specialized entrepreneurship programming that includes skills training, mentoring, supported access to financing, as well as ongoing support during the initial years of business start-up are needed to support youth. There are opportunities to build on successful and existing youth entrepreneurship programs, such as S.U.C.C.E.S.S. s Youth Business Innovative Ideas Start-Up (Youth BIIS) program in British Columbia, to reach more youth through tailored programming. For example, there needs to be investment into specialized programming targeting immigrant and refugee youth who may experience additional challenges to entrepreneurship such as language and cultural barriers. Background: Youth in British Columbia British Columbia s youth are diverse. Census 2016 data indicates 16% of the province s youth are immigrants vii and 28% are 2 nd generation (children of at least one immigrant parent). viii Among immigrant youth in British Columbia, more than a third came to Canada as secondary applicants under the economic class, 15% under the family class, and 8% as refugees. ix 4
Similar to other regions of Canada, youth in British Columbia experience employment challenges. Census 2016 data indicates that while British Columbia had an overall unemployment rate of 6.7%, the rate among youth was significantly higher at 12.8%. x Among immigrant youth, the unemployment rate is slightly higher at 12.9% but increases to 13.7% for youth who arrived in Canada as secondary applicants and 13.0% for refugee youth. xi Youth experience numerous barriers to employment including lack of work experience, technical and soft skills, credentials, labour market knowledge and job search skills, limited professional networks, limited understanding about employment pathways, and experiences of discrimination. xii Immigrant and refugee youth may experience additional barriers such as limited English language proficiency, lack of familiarity with Canadian culture and norms, limited social support networks, interrupted education, and settlement issues. There is also a unique population of Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) youth in British Columbia. Census 2016 data indicates that in British Columbia, 32% of youth are not attending school. xiii Of those who are not attending school, 20% are not participating in the labour force. Taking into account the unemployment rate as well, 48,900 youth in British Columbia are not attending school and either unemployed or not looking for work. This represents 9% of the youth population. There are significant implications as NEET youth are three times more likely to be in poor health than youth overall and three times more likely to be living in poverty than youth who are working or in school. xiv It is essential to ensure that the diverse needs and experiences of youth, including immigrant and refugee youth, are included in strategies and actions to support youth employment in Canada. Summary of Recommendations Theme: Youth underemployment after completing their education 1. Support underemployed youth to pursue long-term career goals and pathways Theme: Youth unemployment and how it harms transition to the workforce 2. Build on existing programs that are effective in supporting youth to achieve employment 3. Adopt a wraparound approach to address complex needs of unemployed youth 4. Increase specialized programming for older immigrant youth with unique barriers to employment in Canada Theme: Entrepreneurship 5. Expand specialized entrepreneurship programming for youth About S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Founded in 1973, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is one of the largest immigrant and refugee-serving agencies in Canada with 30+ service locations across Metro Vancouver, in Northern BC as well as overseas in China, South Korea, and Taiwan. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. delivers a range of integrated services to more than 61,200 clients annually in the areas of settlement, language, employment, business, family and youth, counselling, early childhood development, affordable housing, seniors care, as well as community development. Of note, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. delivers an integrated continuum of services to support youth to develop the capacity they need to achieve their settlement, civic, economic and social goals. Last year, over 2,200 youth accessed services from S.U.C.C.E.S.S. including settlement services, language training, employment programs, leadership programs, family services, and community development supports. 5
i BC Centre for Employment Excellence. (2014). Negotiating the Barriers to Employment for Vulnerable Youth in British Columbia. Retrieved from www.cfeebc.org/reports/mccreary.pdf ii Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (n.d.). Canada Permanent Resident Age 200-2016. Open Data Portal. Retrieved from http://www.cic.gc.ca/opendata-donneesouvertes/data/ircc_adhocsr_pr_0001_e.csv iii Wilkinson, L., Yan, M.C., Tsang, A., Sin, R. & S. Lauer. (2012). The School-to-Work Transitions of Newcomer Youth in Canada. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 44 (3), 29-44. iv Canada 2020. (2014). Unemployed and Underemployed Youth: A Challenge to Canada Achieving its Full Economic Potential. Retrieved from http://canada2020.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014_canada2020_paperseries_en_issue-04_final.pdf v EY. (2015). Canadian Entrepreneurs will be a Leading Source of Job Creation this Year. Retrieved from http://www.ey.com/ca/en/newsroom/newsreleases/2015-global-job-creation-and-youth-entrepreneurship-survey vi CERIC. (2008). National Youth Entrepreneur Social Attitude and Innovation Study. Retrieved from http://ceric.ca/sites/all/themes/ceric/pdf/youth%20entrepreneur%20study%20report.pdf vii Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016269. viii Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016187 ix Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016204. x Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016286. xi Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016204. xii BC Centre for Employment Excellence. (2014). Negotiating the Barriers to Employment for Vulnerable Youth in British Columbia. Retrieved from www.cfeebc.org/reports/mccreary.pdf Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria. (2014). Pathways to Success for Youth in BC s Capital Region: The Power and Potential of Social Enterprise. Retrieved from www.communitycouncil.ca/sites/default/files/2014_youth_social_enterprise_report_cfeebc_cspc.pdf xiii Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-400-X2016256. xiv Keane, C. (2015). Social and Employment Issues of Youth. Retrieved from http://www.queensu.ca/sps/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.spswww/files/files/events/conferences/qiisp/2015/clairekeane.pdf 6