Madam Speaker, I am glad my colleague has been visiting university campuses. Members of the House may not know I was vice-president at the University of Calgary before being elected. Youth employment and youth education are issues near and dear to my heart, and I am very happy to have the privilege of answering the member's question.
Students certainly face challenges they did not face in years past. One we hear about a lot on university campuses, of course, concerns the very challenging and tumultuous world we are in: climate change beset by anxieties that students did not have to deal with in previous generations. Of course unemployment is one of those challenges as well. Creating youth opportunities is one of the things the current government and any government should be very fixated on.
As the member said, though, a lot of that is anecdotes, and I captured my share of anecdotes over the years as I was doing my job for the University of Calgary, but I do want to talk a bit about job numbers. In April 2025, when the government was elected, youth unemployment was 14.2%, which we can all agree is too high, with 63% participation. The most recent job numbers from December 2025 show unemployment had reduced to 13.3%, with 63.2% participation: lower unemployment and marginally more participation. It is good progress, but there is still work to be done.
Those numbers are comparing us against ourselves and seeing some progress within the government's mandate, but let us also talk about the United States. In the U.S., youth unemployment was 10.4% in December. That sounds a lot better. I do want to caution though about comparing apples to oranges. Canada and the U.S. measure youth unemployment differently, because Canada includes 15-year-olds, and Canada also has a higher student participation rate.
What I want to point out is that in April 2025, the U.S. youth unemployment rate was 9.6%. The United States is actually going the wrong way, while Canada is going the right way. I think that speaks to the steps the government has taken.
If we want to do more, there is a simple solution. It is called the budget implementation act, which includes a number of supports for youth: $1.5 billion over three years. It has supports for 20,000 youth; student work placements, 55,000 opportunities; and the youth climate corps. That is to say nothing of the general priorities that will create jobs, provide housing and mental health benefits.
While I appreciate the concern, I think the figures tell a bit of a different story. This is work we are going to continue to push on. I am happy to say we will be building on progress we are already seeing.