There is expected to be approximately 800 new positions created the Youth Employment and Skills Program for the 2020/2021 year, Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food, says in a news release on July 23. The enhanced program, which launched on May 26, is now fully subscribed with the application intake closed.
“The applications received for this program demonstrate that youth are eager to take advantage of the many employment opportunities available in the agriculture and agri-food sector and to gain valuable work experience,” Bibeau says in the release.
Back in May the government announced $9.2 million in funding to help the agriculture industry attract Canadian youth, ages 15 to 30, to work at their organizations amid labour shortages due to the pandemic. Originally it was expected the program would fund 700 positions, the release notes.
Eligible applicants included producers, agri-businesses, industry associations, provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous organizations and research facilities. Funding for it was retroactive to April 1, 2020, with projects to be completed by March 31, 2021.
