Community groups call for more youth job opportunities in Toronto

Community groups are calling on the City of Toronto to create 10,000 additional summer jobs for youth next year as a way to address high youth violence rates through employment opportunities.

The Toronto Youth Cabinet (TYC) hosted a summit at city hall on Tuesday, in partnership with other local groups, to highlight the growing need for youth in the city to have access to jobs. 

TYC executive director Stephen Mensah says creating a summer youth employment program for 2025 to open up more jobs is "critical," as the city faces a growing number of incidents of violence involving young people at the same time as youth unemployment rates remain high.

"We need to provide young people with a good job, a meaningful job, a gainful job to ensure that we lower violence in [Toronto], as well as to ensure that we address the youth unemployment rate as well," Mensah said in an interview Tuesday.

The number of young people charged with firearms offences between Jan. 1 and July 7 this year more than doubled to 107 from 41 when compared to the same period in 2022, according to Toronto police statistics.

"We know the key to addressing poverty is employment," Mensah said.

"Young people are disproportionately perpetrating carjackings. Firearm arrests are high in respects to young people. And all that's happened due to the fact that young people are facing poverty."

The youth unemployment rate for people between the ages of 15 and 24 rose 0.9 percentage points to 13.5 per cent in June compared to the same time last year, according to Statistics Canada's monthly Labour Force Survey released last month. It's the highest the rate has been since September 2014, with exception made for 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mensah said the 8,000 job openings in the city's parks and recreation department this summer is not enough, adding that him and other advocates are calling for 10,000 additional openings across the city.

"The reality is youth unemployment is at a decade high, and so our targets are clearly not ambitious," Mensah said. 

"Now is the time for unprecedented and bold investments because young people deserve that and young people require that now more than ever."

Serena Nudel, director of community programs with The Neighbourhood Group, said the groups advocating for the program are looking for much more than just a summer job for young people. 

"We're looking for pathways to employment and pathways to meaningful and gaining full employment for future success for young people," Nudel said.

"We need to be able to guide youth and walk with them to get the jobs that they need. We're looking to add not only a job, [but] also mentorship, about those wrap-around supports, about connections to people who are able to provide opportunities for youth in the long term."