Hon. Andrew Cardozo: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, and it is on youth unemployment. Over the summer, some 100,000 young people received employment through the Canada Summer Jobs program. They worked in an array of jobs, learning valuable skills and contributing to the economy and society. We know that youth unemployment remains stubbornly high — twice that of the general population.

I want to focus on turning the Canada Summer Jobs program into a program that runs year-round, using the same criteria and administration as the summer program, running in every riding of the country.

Will you pass a message on to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Jobs and Families to give this matter serious consideration in their preparation of the federal budget to extend this successful program so it runs for three terms — summer, fall and winter — starting in January 2027?

Hon. Pierre Moreau (Government Representative in the Senate): I certainly will, Senator Cardozo, and you can ask as well because we will have the Minister of Finance in the chamber in the coming days.

Youth unemployment is a structural issue of the economy that many countries face, but the government is acting, as you mentioned, to answer the concern it has heard from young Canadians through its engagement by posting 100,000 Canada Summer Jobs on Job Bank as of April 20, by expanding the Student Work Placement Program to 55,000 for work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students, by expanding the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy to 20,000, and by facilitating careers in Red Seal trades with a $75-million expansion of the Union Training and Innovation Program in Budget 2025. I’m sure the minister will gladly answer any question you might have.

Senator Cardozo: Whether or not it is within the purview of the discussion we are having, I will ask that question.

There have been proposals for other programs, including a one-year job-guaranteed national service program for young people or a beefed-up youth climate corps, which was announced in the last budget. Will the government consider developing a much more comprehensive, long-term set of policies for the decade ahead to deal with, as you put it, the structural problem of youth unemployment?

Senator Moreau: That is a very good question for the minister, since I cannot provide you with an answer as to what is coming on the government’s agenda. Certainly, the government is well aware of that situation and is working hard on youth employment. We know this is a problem that many countries face.