What are we currently seeing?
Obviously, the current political situation is having an impact on what we are seeing and hearing, but I would like to address the issue in more general terms.
Youth unemployment and underemployment is often quoted at about 13% for both Canada and Quebec, but this figure, from my perspective, is really not an accurate figure, in that it does not include those who are underemployed or have dropped out of the job market altogether. I would estimate the figure being much higher. Members of the OLMC face even greater challenges as members of a minority community. Many of our clients have university degrees and are living below the poverty level. TD Economics' report on youth unemployment states that the financial impact will be $23.1 billion in lost wages over the next 18 years. The issue becomes: what impact will this have on our community?
As a result of being unemployed and underemployed many of the young people are facing situational mental health issues. Many feel isolated and have no networks to support them, as demonstrated by the reports that we have just undertaken. I also want to clarify that our organization has grown and most of the clients we see fall between the ages of about 22 to 40 years old, but we also see older people who are coming to us for support for entrepreneurial help, and our artist clientele have no age restrictions.
Many young people who are English-speaking are coming to Quebec for a variety of reasons and can be very instrumental in the renewal of our communities. Many are attracted by the creative economy and in many cases they have been recruited by what's being referred to as creative companies. They often come with families, and they come to Quebec with the hopes of joining this creative economy.
We've worked with the spouses, we've worked with the people who come hoping to get jobs, and many of them find themselves underemployed or working on short-term contracts or underpaid jobs. Many young people as well go to English universities in Quebec and want to stay in Quebec. We also see them at our doors. New government policies have made it a bit easier for these people to remain in Quebec, but they also, again, have the potential of renewing our community and need the support to remain.
It is very difficult for new arrivals to access English-language support, so they either will integrate into the majority community or will leave and use Quebec as an entry point for Canada. There are many people interested in entrepreneurship in the OLMC for a variety of reasons but one of them is their difficulty in finding jobs, so they create their own businesses. Last year we helped more than 700 businesses get launched or sustained.
A large percentage of the OLMC is made up of visible minority communities as well, who are struggling with a whole variety of difficult and systemic issues. They are a minority within a minority.
Youth from the OLMC are reluctant to go into the trades or government jobs for a variety of reasons including: the lack of training for many of the trades, the heavy influence of trade unions in Quebec, and government bureaucracy and forms in French only. If they succeed in getting employment, there is often a sense of exclusion on the job. There is also a perception related to language competencies and complexities related to government positions in the province.
There is also difficulty in accessing English-language services, and much of the funding is going to para-government or government agencies in Quebec that don't necessarily meet the needs, or there is not the perception that they will meet the needs of those in our community.
Many individuals, especially new arrivals from the OLMC, lack networks as identified in all of our studies. There is a skills mismatch between what young people are learning in university and what the needs of employers are. This is a universal issue, but again, it impacts proportionately our community.
Internships work as a vital tool for the OLMC to retain young adults seeking career opportunities in Quebec. They clearly need the community sector's involvement in their success. Thanks to the Youth Employment Strategy we've had great success with those.
I will quickly pass it to John for the conclusion and recommendations.