The federal government is looking for grant applications to the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) Program of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
Projects funded through this call for proposals will help improve labour market outcomes for up to 20,000 youth facing barriers to employment. ESDC will provide eligible organizations with up to $5 million per year for up to four years (starting in 2024–25). The YESS Program will fund organizations to deliver a broad range of activities that help young people (aged 15 to 30). For example, funded projects might include activities aimed at providing mentoring, skills development and training, paid work experiences, or wraparound supports such as dependent care support or mental health counselling.
New to this funding cycle is an emphasis on supporting projects that target youth with disabilities and youth furthest from employment such as those facing multiple and compounding barriers. Other priority groups include Indigenous youth, 2SLGBTQI+ youth, Black and other racialized youth, and youth in official language minority communities.
Organizations are invited to apply for funding until 3:59 p.m. EST on November 22, 2023. More information about how to apply for funding is available at https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/youth-employment-strategy.html.
Additional funding opportunities will be available this fall for organizations that provide volunteer and summer job opportunities for youth through the Canada Service Corps and Canada Summer Jobs.
Since 2020, more than 45,000 youth facing barriers to employment have benefited from the YESS Program.
A recent assessment of the YESS Program (covering June 2019 to December 2022) found that more than 80 per cent of youth participants either were employed or had returned to school following their participation in YESS programming.
Organizations can sign up for email notifications if they wish to be notified when ESDC funding opportunities become available.
