Welcome Centre Shelter receives zero Canada Summer Job positions for 2026

The sign for the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and Families at 500 Tuscarora in Windsor, Ont. (Rusty Thomson/AM800 News)

One of Windsor’s most critical shelters is facing a setback.

The Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and Families posted to social media that they have been shut out of the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program for 2026.

This is the first time in their 15 years working with the CSJ program that they received zero summer positions.

CSJ is a program under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy to support youth to gain paid summer work experience for income, to develop skills, and to support their transition into the labour market.

It provides wage subsidies that cover up to the full amount of minimum wage, allowing local organizations to hire youth.

Lady Laforet, Executive Director of the Welcome Centre Shelter, says this program has been crucial for the shelter as it reduces staffing costs and allows charities with limited budgets to hire additional hands during the summer months.

Typically there are up to 100,000 CSJ positions available, but it was announced in April 2026 that there would be 175,000 opportunities for youth in 2026-27.

She says they started hearing from partner organizations who had received spots for the program, and they knew something was wrong.

“We called for a week straight and just could not get through, could not get through... finally got a hold of someone and was initially told they didn’t even have our application... that it didn’t exist. And so we provided proof that we had applied, that we had a confirmation number, and then that’s when we heard that we actually had an allocation of zero. So, we’re definitely struggling a bit to pivot from that.”

Laforet says there are many reasons why an organization could be turned down, such as a high number of applicants.

“Shifting priorities, perhaps new organizations applying, organizations that are struggling that are perhaps applying for more than general... there’s lots of funds generally to go around with the increase, so we had thought, ‘well, you know, worse case maybe we won’t get the amount of positions we asked for which I believe was initially seven, but perhaps we’ll get a couple’. So to get zero was a bit of a hit.”

She says the shelter will feel the effects of not having summer positions filled.

“Less on site supports, less extra hands for support staff, less of a pipeline for the organization to train staff. So you’ll hear a lot of charities that often use Canada Summer Jobs in that way, is that we use it as a pipeline for staff within our shelter programs, our housing programs, to really get some youth in, get them working, get them some experience, and then it’s not uncommon that we then hire on those students.”

Laforet says they made the post to inform those who have already submitted applications that they will not be moving forward with interviews.

She adds that there’s no opportunity for reapplying but says the government could reach out in the upcoming weeks or months and inform them at a later date they could hire students.

The Welcome Centre Shelter is a vital support system for women, children, and families in Windsor-Essex. The shelter offers emergency shelter, transitional housing, and wraparound supports.

With files from AM800’s The Kyle Horner Show