The federal government is spending $1.9 million to support the YMCA and College Boreal in Sudbury to deliver a range of services that help young people aged 15-30 overcome barriers to employment.
That includes people such as Jessica Irvine, 27, who had been unemployed since June 2024.
“Every morning it was like scrolling through to see what kind of jobs there were, what qualifications I needed to do those jobs, and it was just not working,” Irvine said.
“It was a hard time. So that’s when I finally buckled up. I’m like, OK, I’m going to go down to the employment centre and I’m going to see what they can do for me. And that’s when this skilled program was brought to me.”
Irvine is one of 130 people in the north who got a job thanks to YMCA Employment Services, which has been shaping careers for youth through learning and development programs for the last three years.
She’s been working at Rastall in Sudbury as a receptionist. Once she completes the program in a week or so, she hopes to stay on full-time.
“I’m starting out small,” Irvine said.
“I’ve been … working with packing slips, organizing, basically filing stuff like that ... I do reception work. I do answer phones and will be doing emails and stuff like that eventually. So we’re still kind of learning the ropes.”
This week, the federal government announced $995,000 for YMCA Employment Services and $932,000 for Collège Boréal’s Youth Employment Pathway program.
“It’s four-year funding that’s going to be helping us work with youth facing the greatest barriers to employment,” said Lorrie Turnbull, president and CEO of YMCA of Northeastern Ontario.
“We’re anticipating hitting targets of around 70 youth utilizing this funding. And what it’s going to allow us to do is provide those support services to youth as well as work with employers to kind of create that bridge (and) bring youth to employment better prepared, through all of the wraparound services that will provide.”
“A lot of these youth … have maybe dropped out of school early or … are facing precarious situations at home," said Jean-Mathieu Chenier, director of employment services with Collège Boréal.
“Maybe they haven’t had a meal that day and they’re coming in for the program. And so we’re able to offer that extra support.”
Officials said last year, youths aged 15 to 24 had an unemployment rate of 13.2 per cent, compared to 5.4 per cent for adults 25 to 54.
