Madam Speaker, governments, businesses and workers are navigating new challenges because labour is changing at a dizzying pace. We are looking at a whole new kind of labour market. Many workers are retiring from important sectors, which will lead to critical labour shortages. Some 600,000 skilled trades workers will retire by 2031. That means 600,000 new job opportunities are opening up. On top of that, we expect 400,000 new jobs to be created by the end of this decade alone.
Canada's workforce has a generational opportunity to renew. That is why we have a plan to help Canadians gain a foothold in the job market.
It starts with youth employment. The Canada summer jobs program has a proven track record of providing many young Canadians with their first job. Since 2019, more than 460,000 young people have been helped by the program. After 70,000 jobs were initially created for the summer of 2025, this spring we added 6,000 more opportunities for young people.
That one program is working, year after year, to set young people up for a lifetime of success. In fact, we have supported over 138,000 opportunities for youth under the youth employment and skills strategy, which includes Canada summer jobs, the Canada service corps and the student work placement program.
Our goal is clear: to help young people develop their skills and gain the experience they need to enter the labour market as adults. So far, I have focused mainly on youth employment, because youth are at the heart of our economic future. However, our plan to help people get into the workforce is much broader.
Each year, the Government of Canada invests nearly $1 billion annually in apprenticeship supports through grants, loans, tax credits and employment insurance benefits. The skilled trades are one of the most important areas of job growth in Canada. Canada needs more homes for people, and in budget 2024, the government unveiled an ambitious plan to build 3.87 million new homes by 2031. However, we cannot build houses without the skilled trades, so we need to train thousands of new skilled tradespeople right now.
There is currently a high demand for many skilled trades. This includes automotive service and repair technicians, power line technicians, millwrights, horticulturalists, and truck and transport vehicle mechanics, to name a few.
Each of these trades contributes directly to building a more prosperous Canada.
We are working hard to strengthen Canada's economy. We are investing in this country's very deep pool of made-in-Canada talent, because we will always support Canadian workers and their families. The Government of Canada is delivering for Canadians and providing opportunities so this country can grow the workforce of tomorrow.