Feds to help at-risk youth get job skills

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This article was published 10/08/2017 (3037 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal government will spend $800,000 to give at-risk youth in Manitoba job skills, Winnipeg MP Dan Vandal announced on Thursday.

As many as 162 people, including Indigenous and immigrant youth, will be able to participate in the project, the Winnipeg MP said in a release.

The project is aimed at helping participants develop career techniques, such as interview preparation skills, job seeking and business communication strategies. Youths will also gain experience in sales, food services, construction, tourism and the hospitality industry.

The funding was secured through Skills Link, a program in the federal government’s Youth Employment Strategy, an initiative focusing on Canadians between the ages of 15 and 30.

Skills Link is one of three program streams under the strategy, which takes in $330 million in annual federal funding. As a result of the funding over the last two years, 33,000 vulnerable youths will develop skills to enter the workforce or go back to school, 15,000 green jobs will be created and 1,600 employment opportunities within the heritage sector will be established.

“Projects like this one can help put regular paycheques into the reach of those who need it. But more than that, they give young Canadians the chance to change their future,” Vandal said.