Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to contribute to this critical study on youth employment.
My name is John Buck, and I am president and CEO of the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation. Our mandate is to strengthen the economic vitality of the official-language minority community in Quebec.
While my focus today is on the official-language minority community in Quebec, I think the challenge we face and the solutions we are advancing have clear relevance for youth across Canada.
English-speaking youth in Quebec represent 256,835 individuals, aged 15 to 29. They make up 20.5% of the English-speaking population, compared with 16.3% for francophones. English-speaking youth are younger and more diverse—43% identify as visible minorities, compared with 17% of francophone youth.
Statistics point to serious youth employment challenges. The employment rate is 56.1% for English-speaking youth—nearly six points lower than that for francophones. The unemployment rate is 14.4%, compared to 9% for francophones. On educational attainment, nearly half, or 49.6%, have only a high school education or less. English-speaking youth consistently lag behind their francophone peers in vocational and technical training.
These figures point to a concerning trend in school-to-work transitions. Many youth leave education without market-ready skills, take longer to secure meaningful work or are underemployed in part-time or unstable jobs. The 2024 Deloitte report “Failure to Launch”, commissioned by The King's Trust Canada, reminds us of the wage, tax revenue and long-term productivity losses this situation represents.
The challenges are significant: skills mismatches between what schools provide and what employers need, weaker job networks for English-speaking youth to connect with the labour market, and regional disparities, where in places like Gaspésie or Nord-du-Québec unemployment for English-speaking youth is far above the provincial average.
At CEDEC, we are taking coordinated action on three fronts. First, in applied research, CEDEC has launched a comparative international study of best practices in linking education and training to labour market demand. We are examining models in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and Scandinavia. We will release preliminary findings this November and share them with the Government of Canada. I would be pleased to provide them to this committee. The findings will inform our workforce development strategy. However, lessons learned will extend beyond Quebec, as issues such as underemployment, skills mismatches and challenging school-to-work transitions are common across provinces.
Second, we are developing the collaborative economic development ecosystem. This community-based mechanism brings together public, private and civil society actors dedicated to strengthening workforce development and labour market participation. Key objectives include better connecting job seekers, training institutions and employers; enhancing collaboration and collective accountability to produce job placements, lower unemployment and higher incomes; and improving labour market intelligence so that youth, educators and employers make better decisions.
Third, on practical implementation, CEDEC is about to roll out the employment assistance services capacity development initiative, or EASCDI. The EASCDI links a coordinated continuum of employment assistance service providers across the province. It embeds timely labour market information, an AI-based provincial talent placement platform, and a robust performance measurement framework that ties all of our work to producing tangible outcomes. For youth, this means better access to career pathways, stronger employer connections, and services that help them not only to find a job, but also to build sustainable careers in Quebec.
In closing, I wish to underline three points. Labour market outcomes for English-speaking youth lag significantly behind those of their francophone peers in Quebec. Inaction means lost income and productivity and weaker social cohesion. CEDEC is applying innovative, evidence-based solutions through research, ecosystem development and the deployment of the EASCDI.
By linking workforce development directly to labour market participation, we can ensure that English-speaking youth get good jobs, build future-oriented careers and fully contribute to our shared economy.
Thank you.