A snapshot of employment among youth in Canada

For many college and university students, school is officially out for summer! High school students have just a little more to go before their school year wraps up and summer vacation begins. As the summer months approach and school lets out, many young people shift gears from education to employment and look for a summer job.

Let’s take a quick look at employment numbers for youth in April, around the time when most university students are finishing their winter semesters.

Employment among youth aged 15 to 24 rose by 40,000 (+1.5%) from March to April 2024, the first monthly increase for youth employment since December 2022. In April 2024, virtually all of the increase was among young men (+39,000; +2.8%).

Employment rates among young people are lower in 2024 than they were last year. Although the youth employment rate rose in April from March, it was still down 3.7 percentage points compared with April 2023.

Unemployment among young people has risen in the past year. From April 2023 to April 2024, the unemployment rate among youth aged 15 to 24 increased 2.9 percentage points to 12.8%. This marked the highest unemployment rate for youth since July 2016, excluding 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate increased for both young women (+3.5 percentage points to 12.6%) and young men (+2.3 percentage points to 13.0%) in April 2024.

Although youth unemployment rose in April, more young people may start to look for summer jobs in the coming months. Over the summer months, we will get more indication on how youth are fairing in the labour market.

For more information on the educational and labour market pathways of Canadian youth, check out this article: From high school, into postsecondary education and on to the labour market.