Bradford targets 5,000 youth jobs in first year as Toronto job market stays tough

Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford is vowing to create 15,000 full-time jobs for young people, including 5,000 in one year alone. 

Bradford unveiled his youth employment proposal during a campaign announcement on Friday, less than two weeks before election day. 

Citing a Toronto Metropolitan University study that suggested Toronto fell from No. 1 to No. 412 on the ranking of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in Canada and U.S., with 77,000 people leaving the city last year, Bradford stressed that the city’s administration should work to improve its economy in an effort to keep residents from leaving. 

“I have a number of things… that are going to keep young people in the city, that are going to protect our talent, as we have folks across the country and around the world that are trying to hold them out of the city. We want to keep them here,” he told reporters. 

What is Bradford’s plan? 

Bradford said he plans to launch a Toronto Youth Employment Challenge, which would call on 10 to 15 CEOs of Toronto companies to commit to hiring young people, with 30 per cent of those created jobs directed to “young people facing the steepest barriers.” According to his campaign, this initiative would be almost entirely financed by the corporations themselves, with the city only pitching in $750,000 a year for coordination. 

With this plan, the candidate vowed to deliver 15,000 jobs to youth under 30 years old by the end of the term, and 5,000 in its first year of implementation. 

“Those commitments are going to be published publicly. We’re gonna hold corporate Canada to account, you’re gonna hold me, the mayor, to account as well. We will publish that on an annual basis, where we will be able to track that progress,” Bradford said on Friday. 

The candidate also pointed to his other proposals to say making the city more affordable and increasing the quality of life would also encourage more new corporations to establish their headquarters in Toronto, creating more future jobs.

“We don’t have a mayor who is focused on the economy. We don’t have a mayor who is focused on the future. We have a mayor who is quite content to sit back while the shocks and the stresses of the world are thrust upon us,” he said. 

“The best thing we can do is try and grow our own talent here in this city, make sure that the best and brightest see a pathway to prosperity and opportunity right here in this city so that they don’t have to leave.”

Chow had previously announced youth job plans 

Earlier this week, Chow had made her own announcement regarding creating jobs for youth, including pledging more local job opportunities for young people in Scarborough. 

The incumbent mayor’s proposal, announced on Thursday, includes ensuring that young people in the region can access jobs associated with major infrastructure projects, such as the Scarborough East LRT. 

To do that, Chow said 20 per cent of construction jobs on the LRT project would be allocated to locals, especially youth. In addition, the proposal suggests creating a target of 15 per cent of jobs related to the project to be allocated to apprentices aged 18 to 35. 

“Now that we’re building the Scarborough East LRT, the young people who live here should be the ones getting the jobs,” Chow said at the time. 

“A good first job, a paid apprenticeship, a path to a real career: that’s how we give young people a future in their own neighbourhood.”

In response to Chow’s proposal, Bradford had criticized the mayor’s administration for failing to budget for and complete the LRT, claiming Chow was focused on other transit projects instead. 

The candidate’s campaign also accused Chow of trying to “pass off” his own campaign promise of creating 15,000 jobs for youth, which was first introduced by him last month. 

Youth unemployment remains significant issue across the country

As pointed out by Bradford during Friday’s announcement, the unemployment rate among those aged 15 to 24 in Toronto reached nearly 17 per cent earlier this year. 

However, Toronto is not the only Canadian city facing employment pressures. Unemployment has been a significant topic of discussion across the country for months, after it reached 7.1 per cent in August of 2025, the highest it has been since 2016, except for the pandemic. 

Although employment has risen since then, it continues to be a significant issue, with Canada losing 68,000 last month, and the unemployment rate sitting at 6.5 per cent. 

Young Torontonians are one of the most affected groups by unemployment, with the rate among those aged 15 to 24 sitting at 13 per cent in September, about six points higher than the overall rate.