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