According to Statistics Canada, 11.8 per cent of 15- to 24-year-olds were unemployed last month, double the provincial unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent. In all, 11,400 young people in Saskatchewan can’t find a job.
The data also shows that youth labour participation rate dropped year-over-year, indicating that more young people are giving up on finding work in the province altogether.
“The reality is that Scott Moe is failing young people who want to work and build a life in this province,” said Tajinder Grewal, Saskatchewan NDP Advanced Education Minister. “When young people can’t find jobs, they leave — and Saskatchewan loses their talent, their expertise, and their hard work — and us parents lose our kids to other provinces.”
Saskatchewan lost 1,400 jobs in October, continuing a trend that has seen the province hold the second-worst job creation record in Canada since Scott Moe became Premier.
Tuition hikes and the skyrocketing cost of food and rent — which has increased for 40 straight months — are creating more pressures on young people already struggling to find stable work.
Lara Dixon is a 19-year-old education student at the U of R. Last spring she applied for 30 positions but didn’t get a single interview. She says she and many of her friends are discouraged by the lack of job opportunities in the province.
“It's disheartening to move to a new province from small town Manitoba were there were opportunities and that's a small town. So to move to a city, which you expect to have a lot of opportunities, to be rejected from every single one was just disheartening and just made me feel like I wasn't good enough.”
“Young people are being squeezed,” said Aleana Young, Saskatchewan NDP Jobs & Economy Shadow Minister. “Their costs are going up, job prospects are going down, and this government doesn’t give a damn.”
Dixon says unless the employment situation improves, she won’t stay in the province after she gets her teaching degree. “No, definitely not. If I couldn't find a job a part-time job with tons of like working experience, how am I going to find a full-time teaching career in Saskatchewan given all the education cuts?”
“After nearly two decades, it’s clear this tired old Sask. Party is out of touch and out of ideas,” said Young.
“There is no excuse. Every ambitious, bright young person in Saskatchewan should have a job.”
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