Human Resources Committee on Oct. 9th, 2025

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Trois-Rivières, QC]

I'll ask my question, and maybe you can write about it.

Since you're all young and we talk about the mismatch between what young people are learning and what the labour market needs, if you can send us anything on that, it would be very helpful.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Desrochers.

Ms. Gill, go ahead for six minutes.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank all the witnesses who are with us today. It's good to hear from young people too as part of this study.

You obviously have professional experience, given your positions, but also less formal experience, because you also interact with young people. I'm very interested in this topic, and I won't have time to ask all my questions, but you can answer them in writing, if necessary.

First, I'd like to know what you think are the various causes of youth unemployment. I've heard a lot about expectations from businesses, for example. Ms. Krieger could then talk more about the issue of women. Lastly, I'd like you to tell me whether unemployment can also be harmful to young people's education plans.

I would like to hear your thoughts on those three issues, in whatever order you wish.

[Wasiimah Joomun]

Last month, we visited 22 campuses across Canada and spoke with students. The main concern that has been raised, as Mr. Abbasi mentioned, is that students who apply for a job are being asked to have one or two years of experience. Most of the students we spoke to said that it deprives them of income during their studies and of the opportunity to acquire the skills they need to re-enter the workforce after graduation.

Work-integrated learning, then, helps students gain that experience and develop the confidence needed to start working.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

Thank you.

Ms. Krieger, go ahead.

[Delaney Krieger]

Personally, I want to make it very clear that young people want to work. Young people are the most determined and resilient individuals I have worked with in the last bit here.

The issue, and that disconnect, comes when they are put into positions they are ill-equipped to navigate, handle and manage. A great example of this is that here, in Ontario, we have OYAP, the Ontario youth apprenticeship program. Many times, when I was on job sites, we would have an OYAP student there. I think it's a great opportunity, similar to the work-integrated learning we've been on the topic of. With an OYAP student, there are extra precautions that employers need to take in order to ensure that the student is safe and able to get the best of that experience. I think a lot of it comes down to that gap. It's great to put that student there, but if we can't support them there, I guess that investment is being lost. We see that in student placements, but we also see that in other programs as well.

I think the biggest thing is the inability to retain individuals there. We can get them there, and that's great. They are resilient. They want to work. They will often work much further past when they wanted to, or past the point at which they wanted to leave the industry, just to stick it out, but because there is a lack of those wraparound supports that truly support them to thrive in their environment, that's more often than not what it comes down to.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

Thank you very much.

I agree with what you're saying, because I have a 20-year-old son and an 18-year-old daughter who want to work, even while they're studying.

I still have a lot more questions for you.

Is unemployment putting students' education at risk? They don't all come from a family that can pay for everything. Sometimes they come from remote areas. That involves sacrifice, and I know what I'm talking about. Can the fact that it isn't always accessible and that there's no social safety net be harmful to young people? We know the cost of living, the cost of housing, the cost of university.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on that.

[Wasiimah Joomun]

Thank you for the question.

There's a narrative that students who want to work while they're studying just want to do so for pocket money, or they don't want to study. That narrative has to change. There are people who aren't financially supported by their parents, as you said. Work is a way for them to get money. However, I think work-integrated learning is a good tool to help students develop skills all while enabling them to have a little money to support themselves. We have to move away from the narrative that students go to school only to work and not to study.

We conducted a study of working-age Canadians over the summer, and 73% of them said that their education helped them acquire the skills they needed to start working and to prepare themselves for success during their working lives.

It's important to change the narrative and understand that, these days, working while in school isn't a luxury but a necessity, as much for money as for experience and the opportunity to enter the workforce after school.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

Should students have access to employment insurance?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mrs. Gill.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

You can get back to me in writing.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Ms. Goodridge, you have five minutes.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here.

I'm going to start out with Mr. Abbasi. It's wonderful to have a University of Alberta student, and especially one who came from Augustana campus. I went to Campus Saint-Jean, and having someone from one of the campuses is always wonderful to see.

It was reported, back in March, that the University of Alberta's food bank had a 600% increase in usage over the last five years. Do you think the youth employment crisis is one of the reasons that food bank saw such a high increase?

[Abdul Abbasi]

It's always good to see university grads and Campus Saint-Jean grads.

I think, as was mentioned before, students who are doing work integration get a lot of those skills while, at the same time, they're earning while they learn. A lot of the time, if they don't have any other supports or parents to support them, this is where they are earning some money that can help them pay for their groceries, keep a roof over their head and make sure they have enough time to put towards their studies. We have heard from many students who are working two part-time jobs to make ends meet. That means they don't have time to study, and that affects their grades; they don't get scholarships, and then they have to work more to make ends meet, so it is a circle.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

The cost of living crisis is having a massive impact on student well-being overall. Is that correct?

[Abdul Abbasi]

Yes. We have been hearing from students that it has become hard to afford education, and it's important that education remains a right instead of a privilege.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you. I'm now going to switch to Ms. Krieger.

It's awesome to see a kick-butt tradesperson sitting there, especially a female. I am the proud daughter of two tradespeople, and they taught me that it is something that you don't step away from.

Simply, do you believe that skilled trades are talked about enough in general?

[Delaney Krieger]

Thank you so much for that question, because it's something that I often grapple with.

Sometimes I feel they're talked about but oftentimes sugar-coated. The harsh realities and the current state of them are veered away from, and I truly believe that boils down to a lack of actual boots-on-the-ground knowledge. There aren't a lot of individuals who get into the skilled trades and stay there, know the environment inside and out and are able to sit at this table and advocate for that.

I believe they are talked about, but I feel there are a lot of misconceptions, one of them being retirement and that there are all these individuals in the skilled trades who are retiring. That is true, and it is going to affect us. However, at this current moment, we are not seeing the retirement rates that were originally projected.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I think that's a critical part of this.

Do you think we have enough RAPs, or registered apprenticeship programs, to get young people into the trades? I grew up in Fort McMurray, and we have had RAPs since before I was born. It shocks me when I find out it's not really common. Even in Fort McMurray, where we are a super-duper trades town—probably not dissimilar to Windsor—it still was, “If you're smart, you should go to university and not go into the trades.”

What would you say to a young, smart woman today?

[Delaney Krieger]

I often say that smart people need to build buildings. That is a pretty point-blank statement there.

To your point about how we've always had these apprenticeship programs, we have apprenticeship registration programs, and we have individuals entering this industry. However, bringing it back to the retention and advancement piece, that's where we're lacking. We can have recruitment all we want, but if we are not going to protect that investment by investing in the retention and advancement of these individuals, we are going to consistently keep seeing this revolving door where we are losing money.

I have a couple of stats here to speak about this. Only 30% of women who begin apprenticeship programs complete them, in comparison to 45% of men. Also, 45% of men do not complete an apprenticeship program. This is not just speaking about under-represented groups; this is speaking about all apprentices all across the board. Again, to that point, when we talk about skilled trades, people are interested and people are excited to go into the skilled trades. I was excited to go into the skilled trades. Growing up in Windsor, I drove down Riverside Drive where all the nice houses were, and I knew that all of those houses belonged to tradespeople, so it was an idealized career for me, but once I got into it, it was not the shiny glamour that I had originally been promised.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Yes, it's a lot of hard work. My parents were very proud; they both had apprentices regularly, and they would highlight their apprentices and really do that mentorship.

I really want to thank you for highlighting the lack of mentorship that sometimes exists in that space.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mrs. Goodridge. Good questioning.

Mr. Joseph, you have five minutes.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to congratulate our young people and thank them for being here. It's always a pleasure to meet them here in Ottawa, at the heart of our democracy.

I have a message for them: They must not let themselves be intimidated and must not give up.

My question is for you, Mr. Abdul.

In your experience, what government initiatives and supports have actually had a positive impact on students' pathways to employment? How do you think we can strengthen those initiatives and supports to help more young students balance work and studies better?

[Abdul Abbasi]

I touched on some of the things that have worked. We have seen the student work placement program work out for students. Again, the number has shrunk from 60,000 in 2022-23 to 40,000 now, but it's something that we have seen work. It's important that we have more funding put into this.

To touch on more stuff the government can do to help students out, and to touch a bit on apprentices, we take a holistic view of education and training. With the federal government focus on major projects and infrastructure, CASA is pushing for the government to establish that 10% of the hours on those projects in infrastructure, major projects and housing are hours being worked by apprentices. This is something we have seen in provinces like Alberta and across some other provinces in the country. In the U.S. between 2012 and 2022, the apprenticeship number went up by 64%, but in Alberta it decreased by 48%. How do we find those apprenticeship trainers who can help students through their journey to get those skills?

I would say that the student work placement program and apprenticeship hours would be two aspects where government could help.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Chair, my next question is for Ms. Joomun.

Mr. Abbasi talked about Alberta and other provinces. What role do provincial governments play in complementing federal student employment initiatives?