Youth unemployment in the Greater Toronto Area has surged to its worst levels in years, with this summer offering little relief for teens and young adults searching for work. A new report from CIBC, titled No to being young again: The struggles of Canadian youth employment, shows joblessness among Canadians aged 15 to 19 has been rising steadily since 2022, leaving many young people shut out of the labour market just as living costs soar.
The crisis was thrown into sharp relief earlier this summer when a record-breaking 54,000 applications overwhelmed the Canadian National Exhibition’s summer jobs portal, forcing administrators to shut it down. It was a striking example of demand far outpacing opportunities. National youth unemployment now hovers near 16 per cent—more than double the overall unemployment rate of just under seven per cent.
According to Tim Lang, CEO of Youth Employment Services, sectors like retail and hospitality, once reliable for seasonal jobs, saw their lowest vacancies in years. He cites the cost-of-living crisis, tariff pressures on businesses, and the rise of artificial intelligence displacing low-skill tasks as major contributors. “For the first time in a long time, we’ve seen a decline in hospitality and retail jobs in the summer, when they usually increase,” Lang said, warning that many young people are losing motivation to even keep searching.
The strain is being felt by organizations trying to help. The Neighborhood Group in Toronto has been forced to scale back its youth employment programs after Ontario rolled out its new Integrated Employment Services model in March. What once served more than 100 young people annually has now been cut to just 23, according to Kim Patel, TNG’s VP for Employment and Training Services. She and others are lobbying all levels of government to restore funding. “The demand is great, but the supply of programs has decreased substantially,” Patel said.
Even in alternative fields like construction and landscaping, where Lang’s team has encouraged youth to seek work, applications have doubled this summer, oversaturating what little demand exists. With fewer entry-level jobs available, experts warn that today’s young workers face an economic environment so hostile it has been dubbed a “youthcession.”
Lang said the situation could deteriorate further if Canada enters a full recession in the coming months. “Youth unemployment traditionally goes up and down with market conditions. If a recession were to hit, it would take an already not great situation and make it a lot worse,” he cautioned.
For many young people in the GTA, this summer has underscored just how precarious their path into the workforce has become. Without targeted investment in youth employment programs and a stronger economy, the challenges of 2025 may only deepen in the year ahead.