Organizations that work with post-secondary students are cautiously optimistic about a Conservative Party proposal to give more student aid to students enrolled in programs that prepare them for high-demand jobs.

Garnett Genuis, the party’s shadow minister for employment, announced the proposal Oct. 15 as part of the party’s youth employment plan.

Under the proposal, students would still qualify for financial aid based on financial need. But students studying for high-demand careers would receive more federal loans or grants. 

“When the state is subsidizing those studies, it is legitimate and right for the public to align those subsidies with the vital objective of preparing young people for jobs,” Genuis said at a press conference. More financial assistance could encourage students to study for fields where they are more likely to get jobs, helping boost youth employment. 

Genuis did not say how the federal government should determine which jobs are in high demand, only that the process should be “objective.”  

But some doubt Ottawa’s ability to determine what jobs are most needed. 

“In general, the federal government kind of stinks when it comes to deciding what occupations are in high demand,” said Sarah Watts-Rynard, CEO of Polytechnics Canada, a non-profit that represents polytechnics and technology colleges. 

The intent of the proposal is good, she says, but its effectiveness would depend on how it is implemented.

Parties trade barbs

Canada’s youth employment numbers are grim. The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 is 15 per cent, the highest level since 2010, excluding the 2020 and 2021 pandemic years. 

At his press conference, Genuis stressed the negative long-term impacts of youth unemployment.

“Many young people are giving up on finding jobs and leaving the labour force entirely,” said the MP for the Alberta riding of Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan. 

“Fundamentally, this is an intolerable situation. The first job a young person gets is often their most important job because it sets them on a track to a successful lifelong career.”

But, Genuis said, Liberal policies have created conditions that make it harder for youth to get jobs.

“There’s no getting around the fact that the youth unemployment problem we face is downstream of ten years of bad policy from the current government.”  

The Conservatives’ plan for youth jobs includes two key parts of the platform theTories ran on in the election: removing red tape that prevents building and development, and changing the immigration system, including ending the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. 

The Conservatives’ youth employment plan also includes offering an incentive for employers to build housing for employees near to job sites.  

Genuis said he hopes the Liberals put these proposals in the upcoming federal budget.

In an emailed statement, Jennifer Kozelj, press secretary for Patty Hajdu, minister of jobs and families, said the Official Opposition “are offering nothing new.”

“Their proposal recycles old ideas and ignores the modern realities of today’s workforce,” she said in the statement.

The Liberal government has so far focused on boosting youth employment through initiatives such as the Canada Summer Jobs program, which gives wage subsidies to employers who hire youth aged 15 to 30 for summer jobs. 

But Wasiimah Joomun, executive director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, says Ottawa should be creating more spots for the Student Work Placement Program. This program provides wage subsidies for employers who hire post-secondary students for jobs related to their field of study.

There is no guarantee that the same employer will hire a student back for multiple summers, Joomun says. Butstudents are often hired back through the work placement program, and it gives them experience employers are looking for when filling entry-level positions. 

“They have trained you,” she says. “The likelihood of them hiring you again is higher.”

‘Right direction’

Those who study youth employment say more details are needed to know whether the Conservatives’ proposals would be effective.

Labour needs vary across the country, and federal labour market data often do not show that, says Watts-Rynard from Polytechnics Canada. 

“The federal government and its understanding of labour market demand tends to be in big, broad brushstrokes, rather than in the specifics of a regional labour market,” she said. 

Students need to be given clear information about which skills are most in-demand for the Conservatives’ student aid proposal to work, says Renze Nauta, program director of work and economics at the think tank Cardus. Nauta has researched the increase of people with post-secondary educations working in working-class jobs for which they are over-qualified.

“The idea is going in the right direction,” he said of the proposal. 

Workers are often frustrated when they are over-qualified for their jobs, he says. 

“There’s a growing disconnect between education and the labour market, at least as far as the working class is concerned,” he said. 

“That fuels not just economic anxiety, but it fuels some social anxiety as well.”

But the proposal could become “problematic” if it becomes political and funding becomes based on a government’s priorities, he said. 

Joomun, at the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, says tying financial aid to specific programs “feels a bit more unstable.” 

“Everyone who is in need and wants to pursue an education should be able to access the same amount of grants and loans, regardless of the program that they are undertaking,” she said.