KITCHENER, ON, July 29, 2015 /CNW/ - The Harper Government is helping equip young Canadians in Kitchener, Waterloo and the surrounding areas with the information, skills and work experience needed to get jobs. The announcement was made today by Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for for Kitchener Centre, and the Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Minister of Employment and Social Development.

Through the Government's Youth Employment Strategy, The Working Centre will deliver a project to help 12 youth with an investment of $210,675. This project will help recent post-secondary graduates transition into the job market and advance their careers.

Project participants will gain work experience related to their studies and career goals through paid internships with private-sector employers in high-demand occupations in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics – known as STEM -- sectors. Potential occupations include technical writer, marketing analyst, and communications.   

Today's announcement is one example of what the Government is doing to help Canadians. To help hard-working families, the Government is also enhancing the Universal Child Care Benefit, introducing the Family Tax Cut and making improvements to the Child Care Expenses Deduction and the Children's Fitness Tax Credit.

Quick Facts

• The Harper Government's Youth Employment Strategy has helped over 611,000 youth since 2006.
• Through Economic Action Plan 2014, the Government is creating up to 3,000 internships in high-demand fields and supporting up to 1,000 internships in small and medium-sized enterprises, under the Youth Employment Strategy.
• Economic Action Plan 2014 introduced the Canada Apprentice Loan, which provides apprentices registered in Red Seal trades with interest-free loans of up to $4,000 to complete their technical training. Loans are interest-free until apprentices complete or leave their apprenticeship training program, up to a maximum of six years. Since January, over 6,000 apprentices across Canada have benefited from the Canada Apprentice Loan.
• The Universal Child Care Benefit will increase from $100 to $160 per month, totalling up to $1,920 per year, for children under the age of six, and families will receive a new benefit of $60 per month, up to $720 per year, for each child aged six through 17.

Quotes

"Our Government is helping young Canadians get the skills and training they need to find good jobs and build better futures for themselves and their families. Today's youth are tomorrow's workforce, so by investing in them we are helping contribute to Canada's long-term growth, competitiveness and overall prosperity.
– The Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Minister of Employment and Social Development

"We are proud to work with such worthy organizations like The Working Centre so that young people, including those in Kitchener, Waterloo and surrounding areas, gain the experience they need to succeed in today's competitive job market."
– Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre

"We are interested in offering assistance to Arts grads who want to contribute to the spirit of innovation and creativity being pursued in Waterloo Region's tech sector."
– Sarah Anderson, Project Coordinator, The Working Centre

Associated Links

Youth Employment Strategy
Career Focus Program
Economic Action Plan
Helping Families Prosper

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Backgrounder

The Youth Employment Strategy (YES) is the Harper Government's commitment to help youth make a successful transition to the workplace. With annual funding of approximately $330 million, YES helps youth between the ages of 15 and 30 get the information and gain the skills and work experience they need to succeed in the workplace. YES includes the Skills Link and Career Focus programs and the Canada Summer Jobs initiative, which creates thousands of job opportunities for students every summer.

Skills Link helps youth facing barriers to employment—including single parents, youth with disabilities, young newcomers and youth in rural and remote areas—to develop the skills and gain the experience needed to find a job or the confidence to return to school. Skills Link has helped over 191,000 youth since 2006.

Career Focus helps post-secondary graduates transition to the job market through paid internships and helps to provide youth with the information and experience they need to make informed career decisions, find a job and/or pursue advanced studies. Since 2006, Career Focus has helped over 29,000 youth.

Canada Summer Jobs provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to create summer job opportunities for young people aged 15 to 30 years who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next school year. Since it began in 2007, Canada Summer Jobs has helped over 304,000 students.

The Harper Government is helping Canadian youth get the skills employers are looking for with the Canada Job Grant, apprenticeship grants and the new Canada Apprentice Loan. The Government also offers tax credits, such as the tuition, education and textbook tax credits, tradesperson's tools deduction, and the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit.

The Government also provides a range of support—including Canada Student Loans, Canada Student Grants, the Canada Learning Bond and the Canada Education Savings Grant—to help young Canadians save for and pursue their post-secondary education, so that they acquire the skills and training they need to succeed in the job market.

Visit youth.gc.ca and CanLearn.ca for more information.

Helping families prosper

The Government of Canada has proposed new measures to make life more affordable for Canadian families.

The Family Tax Cut is a non-refundable credit of up to $2,000 for couples with children under the age of 18, that takes effect starting with the 2014 tax year.

The Children's Fitness Tax Credit may be claimed by families whose children participated in an eligible program of physical activity in 2014. Families may be able to claim up to $1,000 per child for the cost of the program. If the child is eligible for the disability tax credit and the program costs at least $100 in registration or membership fees, families can claim an additional $500.

The Universal Child Care Benefit has increased to $160 per month for children under the age of six, and parents may receive a new benefit of $60 per month for each eligible child aged six through 17. The new benefit amounts would take effect on January 1, 2015, and would begin to be reflected in monthly payments to recipients in July 2015.

The limits used to calculate the Child Care Expenses Deduction would increase by $1,000 starting in the 2015 tax year: from $7,000 to $8,000 for children under the age of seven; from $4,000 to $5,000 for children aged seven through 16; and from $10,000 to $11,000 for children who are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit.

Once fully implemented, the new family package would mean more money in the pockets of Canadian families

SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada