Trudeau pledges $1.5B for youth employment

Liberals say their program aims to create 120,000 jobs over three-year period

BURNABY, B.C.— Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is promising $1.5 billion to help get young people into the job market with a focus on the environment, science and technology.

Under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, thousands of young people have been left on the sidelines, unable to find work, Trudeau said at a campaign event here Friday.

“During the Harper decade, thousands of young Canadians remain unemployed or underemployed, and opportunities are so scarce that many have stopped looking for work altogether,” Trudeau said in a statement.

“Under (Conservative Leader Stephen) Harper, a shortage of good youth jobs has become the new normal.” JUSTIN TRUDEAU LIBERAL LEADER

The Liberal program offers: $300 million a year for three years to create 120,000 jobs through a renewed youth employment strategy.

To create 5,000 so-called “green” jobs by hiring more guides, interpreters and other staff at Parks Canada as well as at environmental organizations.

$40 million a year to support new co-op placements for science, technology, engineering, mathematics and business students.

$25 million a year to help young Canadians gain experience travelling across the country and working in community-building projects.

The Liberals say that there are 170,000 fewer young people in the workforce than before the 2008 recession. Youth unemployment is at 13.1 per cent

“Under Harper, a shortage of good youth jobs has become the new normal,” Trudeau said in the statement. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has also promised jobs. On Wednesday, the NDP said it would commit up to $100 million every year to a pilot program it says would create 40,000 job opportunities for youth over four years.

On Tuesday, Trudeau promised to overhaul Employment Insurance to reverse controversial Conservative changes by reducing wait times and axing the 910 hours of work eligibility.

He also pledged to cut EI premiums though not as deeply as the Conservatives have already promised, leaving about $2 billion in the system that the Liberals will use to bankroll their changes.