Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Rachel. I'm with Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. I'm very grateful to be speaking here today.
Canada is facing an unprecedented demographic shift that will require its young people to be educated, skilled, and able to enter the workforce. The country's economic recovery and growth depends, in part, on its workforce and on young Canadians' ability to do their part. We know Canada's youth have great potential, but some of them struggle to achieve that potential because they lack the services and supportive relationships that would make the difference between the streets and a job, between dropping out or pursuing post-secondary education, and between the job they can get and the job that will inspire them to give their best.
No single measure will prepare young people to succeed in school and enter the workforce, but quality after-school programs are part of the solution. Such programs improve school outcomes, help young people build job skills, expand social networks, and gain the experience they need to enter a competitive job market.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada are leading providers of quality after-school programs that support the healthy physical, mental, educational, and social development of children. Our association of 100 clubs reaches some 200,000 children, youth, and families each year in 650 community locations across Canada. Low-income families represent 60% of those we serve. Clubs are located in neighbourhoods where we're most needed, including large city centres, suburbs, remote rural communities, and first nations reserves.
Boys and Girls Clubs are safe and supportive places. When you speak with Cornwall community Police Chief Daniel Parkinson, he'll tell you that crime has gone down 40% as a result of the Boys and Girls Clubs presence in the community. Young people have access to more recreation programs, support to succeed in school, and leadership and employment opportunities, and that has made all the difference. Twice now, the Cornwall club has partnered to run the Skills Link program for local youth.
At the national level, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada is working with the private sector to invest in our young people's success. In partnership with Kal Tire, we're helping to address the skilled trades shortages. The Skilled4Success program offers on-site job shadowing, connections to community members working in the trades, career planning information, and support in pursuing a certified apprenticeship. There are 12 Boys and Girls clubs across the country that are offering the program in this first year of our partnership.
We want young people to succeed. We're engaging with government and the private sector to make this happen. Our full recommendations are in the brief we've submitted to the committee, but I'd like to highlight a few here.
We want to underline the importance of Canada's youth employment strategy. Programs such as Career Focus, Skills Link, and Canada Summer Jobs enable clubs to provide youth with valuable work experience. The Skills Link program is especially relevant to clubs because it promotes the human capital and employability of a population that faces many barriers to employment. We would see great benefit in enhancing this program.
Youth who struggle with mental health problems and illnesses need extra support. We encourage the government to help create opportunities for these youth to work in a supportive environment, thus ensuring they have a strong start in the workforce and they increase their labour market participation. A program similar to Skills Link, offered to organizations and businesses that can provide a supportive workplace, would be extremely valuable.
We also need to make sure that young people stay on a positive life path. A criminal record can be a real barrier in a young person's prime earning years. It's incumbent on us to ensure that few young people see crime as a viable option. We urge you to enhance the funding to the youth justice fund and the youth gang prevention fund, and ensure that employment opportunities are part of gang prevention efforts.
We also ask you to bolster the national crime prevention strategy to help communities reach young people before they enter the justice system.