CANADA SUMMER JOBS PROGRAM SEES BOOST IN APPLICATIONS

The federal government says almost 42,000 businesses have applied to hire a student through the Canada Summer Jobs program, surpassing the number of applications last year. The number of applications this year could be considered a bit of a miracle after officials predicted applications would fall short of the government’s goals. The feared shortfall was the reason the Liberals extended the application period for an extra two weeks in January, giving federal officials and MPs time to do more outreach about the program to regions where applications were lagging. Exactly how many jobs that translates into at not-for-profit organizations, public sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees won’t be known until the end of the year. Last year, the program funded almost 66,000 jobs, but fell short of the 77,000 jobs the Liberals had hoped to fill with the help of an extra $113 million annually last year, this year, and next.