Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in debate and speak to this very important topic. I want to thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for being so gracious as to share some of his time with me and for his important work on this issue throughout the course of this Parliament so far. I know that young Canadians from coast to coast to coast are thankful for the work he has been doing to shine light on this very important issue of youth employment.
I want to start by looking at the economy as a whole after 10 long years of the Liberal government. The labour market is bad overall, especially for young Canadians. As it has been mentioned in debate, Canada presently has the worst employment rate in more than 25 years. As an extension of that, in the short period since the Prime Minister took office, nearly 48,000 more Canadians have had to turn to EI to make ends meet.
We are here talking about the impact on youth and young Canadians. I am still in my twenties. There are a few of us here in our twenties across all parties in the chamber. As an aside, it is great to see more young people getting involved in politics. Given my age, I bring a personal perspective to this.
Many friends and folks my age, not just where I live in Kenora but right across northwestern Ontario and across Canada, have shared their concerns with me about struggling to make ends meet and struggling to find a job. In the region I represent in northwestern Ontario, there are a lot of seasonal businesses, tourism businesses and industries that are driven by youth employment and seasonal employment, which are becoming harder and harder for young people to find. It is also harder for employers to fill those jobs.
The youth unemployment rate is nearly 15%. This is the highest it has been since 2010, outside the COVID-19 pandemic years. Over 460,000 young Canadians are out of work in Canada today. These levels are typical of a recession. Young Canadians are facing quite stark numbers. If we look at Ontario alone, more than 17,000 youth lost their jobs in the last month. These are just some of the numbers that paint a very clear picture of what young Canadians are facing.
Underemployment is also a concern as folks get their schooling and their training. We know that one in six people with post-secondary credentials is not working in a job related to their field. They are doing everything right. They are working hard, getting a good education and getting some job training, and they are unable to find work in the profession they chose.
We have said many times that the promise of Canada is that people work hard, play by the rules and go to school and get an education or an apprenticeship, and at the end of it, they can expect a well-paying job, a good home and a safe neighbourhood. That is the Canadian promise that so many people have come to expect. That is the promise that has been broken after 10 years of the Liberal government.
I was recently in Toronto with the Leader of the Opposition and many other members of our caucus. We had a great turnout, with hundreds of students and young people from around the GTA coming out to share with us their concerns and what they are facing. Many people are struggling to afford the cost of living, find housing, pay their rent or move to home ownership, which many people have given up on after 10 years. We heard time and time again that more and more often, the fact is that people cannot find a job.
I think back to when I was in school in Thunder Bay. I worked two or three jobs at a time and I paid my way through school. It was relatively easy. My friends and everyone we knew would get a new haircut and walk into an establishment with a smile and a good attitude, and we pretty much expected to come away with a job. It was very easy for young people to get a job at that time.
As I mentioned, I was only 27 years old. It was not that long ago that one was able to do that in this country. After the Liberals' economic record, that story is one that is foreign to most young Canadians across the country.
I spoke about those conversations in Toronto with the Leader of the Opposition, when we heard from students. Of course, this is impacting youth. It is not just about the fact that they are unable to get jobs. I mentioned housing. The economic record of the Liberal government has led to the doubling of housing costs, and so many young people are struggling to afford rent. They are living with their parents and trapped in their basement, so to speak, and so many of them are facing the consequences as a result of that. They are worried that they will never be able to save enough for a down payment. They have given up on their dream of home ownership. People are putting off starting a family.
I know many people who live in Kenora who have good jobs, couples who live in one of their parents' houses, because they cannot find an affordable place to live with two good incomes. That is having an impact on their life decisions, including starting a family.
Of course, grocery costs are up 4%. Food inflation is up 4% year over year in September. That is something that everyone is facing but it is something that, in particular, young Canadians are facing. They do not have a lot saved up. They do not have a lot of time to work when they are going to school. On the weekends and in the summer months and in the time that they do have, and this is what we are talking about here today, they are unable to find those jobs.
This is the Liberal track record. The Liberals have driven investment away. They have smothered small business with higher taxes and red tape. They have refused to align training and immigration with labour market realities, and now the Prime Minister, after all that, is telling young Canadians that they need to make more sacrifices.
I can assure members that the Leader of the Opposition and I heard this past weekend in Toronto, from hundreds of students, that young Canadians are not going to make any more sacrifices for the Liberal government. They have sacrificed enough. The have sacrificed the dream of ownership. They have sacrificed a healthy diet. They have sacrificed starting a family. They are now sacrificing jobs. They are saying that enough is enough. They are looking for the government to finally deliver an affordable budget that can give them an affordable life.
That is why Conservatives are bringing forward our plan to help, to unleash the economy by repealing anti-resource laws, cutting taxes to drive reinvestment and eliminating red tape.
We also need to fix immigration by fixing credentialed recognition, by realigning immigration with labour and housing market realities, and by fixing training. Federal student aid should no longer treat all studies the same. That is why Conservatives are proposing that the Canada student finance assistance program provide more support to students pursuing in-demand fields. We believe that taxpayer investment in education should prepare youth for jobs, very simply.
We have to build homes where the jobs are, a very simple concept. Housing is an obstacle to hiring in northwestern Ontario. That is why Conservatives are proposing a 100% writeoff for companies that build workforce housing. This is happening all over the place, such as with the hospital in Kenora and the A&W. There are so many businesses, across all sectors, that are looking to have their own housing to house employees, because otherwise they are not able to get anyone to work.
People would move to northwestern Ontario. Why not? It is a beautiful region. There are lots of lake life and outdoor activities. There are good jobs but no houses. I know people who have nowhere to live but who could fill those jobs.
In conclusion, Conservatives are the only ones who are standing with a plan to deliver jobs, homes and hope for the future generation. We are going to continue fighting so that young Canadians, and everyone across our great country, can have an affordable life, so that we can restore that promise of Canada for all Canadians.