Province commits $25M for youth summer-job programs

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This article was published 29/04/2021 (1967 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister and Municipal Relations Minister Derek Johnson today announced $25 million in funding to create 8,000 summer-job opportunities for youth.

“Our team remains committed to develop the right programs at the right times,” Pallister said at a press conference with Johnson Thursday.

The premier said COVID-19 has impacted employment opportunities for young people across Canada, and Manitoba’s youth have been hit particularly hard.

Getting them back to work will be part of Manitoba’s pandemic recovery, Pallister said.

The $15-million Manitoba Youth Jobs Program provides employers with a 50 per cent subsidy on wages paid to eligible employees from May to September, with a maximum of up to $25,000 per employer. Pallister said he expects it will help more than 2,000 Manitoba employers recover from the pandemic and create sustainable long-term, seasonal and short-term jobs for more than 6,000 young Manitobans.

It streamlines the Manitoba Summer Student Recovery Jobs and Back to Work This Summer programs that helped create 6,000 jobs last year. Pallister said the new program gets money to businesses faster, with employers able to apply for an advance payment of up to $750 per eligible employee, up to $7,500, and broadens eligibility criteria to include all Manitobans under 30 hired as early as April 1.

It provides a 50 per cent wage subsidy on all regular, overtime and statutory wages earned during the 18-week period as opposed to a flat per-hour wage subsidy.

The province is also spending $10 million on Green Team grant programs to put 2,000 young Manitobans to work this summer. This includes nearly $9 million for the Urban and Hometown Green Team Program and more than $1 million for the Manitoba Parks Green Team.

The demand from communities is huge, Johnson said.

“We have received requests for a record amount of funding this year,” the municipal affairs minister said. The province has completed its review of project applications and will begin to notify applicants of funding decisions today.

Through Urban and Hometown Green Team grants, communities can hire youth aged 15 to 29 to work on community projects between May 1 and Sept. 30. Non-profit groups in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba are eligible to receive 100 per cent of wage costs and $250 per position for support costs, while eligible municipal governments in rural Manitoba receive 50 per cent of wage costs and $125 per position for support costs, on a cost-shared basis.

More information is available online for the Green Team program at www.manitobago.ca and Manitoba Youth Jobs Program at http://wfp.to/Gjp.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca