Young Canadians are entering one of the toughest summer job markets amid a ‘technical recession’ — How’s your experience?

Amanda Lang takes a ‘by the numbers’ look at youth employment in Canada … she then discusses how to close the disconnect between young people and employers with Dan Kelly, President & CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

As many younger Canadians set their eyes on landing a summer gig or full-time employment, recent data from Statistics Canada suggests they may be entering a tougher job market than they expected.

Earlier this month, officials revealed that the unemployment rate among youth aged 15 to 24 rose by 0.5 percentage points in April to 14.3 per cent, continuing an upward trend that has left an increasing number of young people struggling to find work since the pandemic.

Despite the start of what some may hope to be a busy summer hiring season, separate data released this week suggests the country has officially slipped into what economists describe as a “technical recession” following consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

• Canada slips into technical recession as economy stalls in Q1

While the state of the overall economy remains uncertain for the near future, experts say the youth unemployment rate sits “markedly above” the pre-pandemic average of 10.8 per cent.

“In April, the youth unemployment rate for students was 16.0 per cent, 2.5 percentage points higher than the corresponding rate for non-students (13.5 per cent),” Statistics Canada said in a news release.

We want to hear from you

Are you a young person currently searching for a summer job? CTV News wants to hear from you.

Tell us how your experience has been this year. Have you noticed fewer job postings, longer wait times, or more competition for positions?

How many applications have you sent out so far, and have you been getting interviews or any callbacks?

If you’re an employer, are you hiring summer staff this year, or scaling back because of economic uncertainty?

Share your story by emailing us at [e-mail] with your name, general location, and phone number in case we want to follow up. Your comments may be used in a future story.