Summary: The Canadian Labour Market

Improved Essays
Mustafa Vahanvaty
A00381600
Term Paper
ECON 3340.1B
November 16, 2015
Dr. Martha MacDonald

The Canadian Labour Market: A Young Persons Nightmare
Topic: Examine the challenges facing young people (up to age 30) in the Canadian labour market.

Introduction
Young people in the Canadian labour market today are facing various challenges. Their futures are beginning to look vague and complicated as compared to their parents and grandparents. In the past, graduating from school would provide a fixed job and stability while in today’s economic environment graduating from school without any post secondary education would make it challenging for any individual to find a minimum wage job.

Youth in the Labour Market
- Youth employment rate:
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The number of youth in the labour market has also decreased because of the increase in number of young individuals who are going back to school in order to pursue a post-secondary education, which would improve their odds of finding better occupations in the future.

Challenges Faced by Canadian Youth in the Labour Market
There are various challenges faced by the youth entering and already part of the Canadian labour market. Some of these challenges are going to be talked about along with potential solutions.

Challenges faced by post-secondary students
- Requirement of high school diploma / post secondary degree: Many occupations that previously did not require graduating high school now require at minimum a high school diploma in order to adequately enter the labour market. According to the 2012 Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics Canada the dropout rate for secondary school students in Canada has decreased from 16.6% in 1990-1991 to 7.4% in 2010-2011 (Graph 2). This has increased the number of students applying to post secondary institutions, which is causing more competition among the youth to find satisfactory jobs after
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The labour markets increase in demand for skilled tradesperson has not caused an increase in the supply of these individuals. Youth tend to have a bias against apprenticeship and skilled trades.
- Unpaid Internship: Unpaid internship is increasingly common. According to the University of Toronto there are up to 300,000 unpaid interns in Canada. Difficult labour market conditions for youth cause unpaid internships since employers know that interns would rather gain the work experience and take advantage of the situation. The unpaid internship also causes unequal opportunities among other students. There is a downward pressure on the wages of other jobs due to unpaid internship, which results in an increase in youth

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