What to know
- Youth unemployment reached 14.1 per cent in February—more than double the national rate of 6.7 per cent—with 2025 marked by persistently difficult conditions.
- Racialized youth face even steeper barriers, with significantly higher unemployment rates among Black, Chinese, and South Asian young people.
- Entry-level jobs are shrinking or demanding more experience, while employers prioritize candidates who can contribute immediately.
- AI and automated hiring systems are reshaping recruitment, filtering applications and reducing traditional junior roles.
- Experts recommend targeted applications, strong personal positioning, networking, and leveraging all experience (including volunteer work and internships) to stand out.
The job market is not getting any kinder to young Canadians, who are facing the worst of an already challenging moment according to a new report.
A new Statistics Canada report revealed that youth unemployment has reached more than double the national average.
Unemployment among those aged 15–24 reached 14.1 per cent in February, which is an increase from the previous year, when it sat at 13.3 per cent. At the same time, the overall rate was 6.7 per cent in February, making youth unemployment 7.4 points higher than the national average.
Before then, the report revealed young Canadians “bore the brunt of a challenging labour market in 2025,” facing very difficult conditions throughout the year.
Last September, youth unemployment reached its highest level since September 2010, with 14.6 per cent of 15–24 year-olds unemployed. The rate decreased slightly in October and November before increasing again to 13.3 per cent in December.
Finding a job was a tougher challenge for racialized youth, with rates significantly higher than the average. In February, the unemployment rate was 23.2 per cent for Black youth, 17.4 per cent for Chinese youth, and 13 per cent for South Asian youth.
Read More
Why is it so hard for young people to get hired?
Young people are flooding job fairs and applying all kinds of hacks to try to enter the market, but it still seems extremely challenging to get hired.
Read More
Vanessa Salopek, an Executive Partner at Salopek HR, tells Now Toronto the high unemployment rates are not a “youth problem,” but rather a shift in the overall hiring process.
Firstly, while youth often rely on entry-level roles, these are getting harder to land, as they now often require experience, expertise, and immediate results.
“Employers are more risk-averse, and under pressure to hire people who can contribute quickly. That inherently works against younger candidates who are still building that foundation,” Salopek said.
As young people deal with higher expectations, many grew up with a different sense of what would lead to success. While a lot of people were told to rely on pursuing further education and “doing the right things,” the market is now a lot more about experience, adaptability, and what they can contribute to the company, and many are not prepared for the new reality.
“Another angle that is often overlooked is that youth are entering the workforce at a time when expectations around work have fundamentally changed,” the expert explained.
“They are more values-driven, more selective, and more aware of workplace culture, boundaries, and mental health. That is not a weakness, but it can create friction in a market that still rewards availability, flexibility, and traditional career paths.”
Technology and AI now also play a much bigger role in the job market. The hiring process has recently become less human, with algorithms and apps being used more frequently to filter applications. With this, youth have another challenge: optimizing their applications for the system.
Meanwhile, AI has been taking over tasks that historically have been done by entry-level employees, from data entry to administrative support, also taking away some of the more junior roles and leading to more competition.
“As a result, youth are not just competing with each other, they are also competing with a changing definition of work itself,” Salopek added.
What can youth do to help in their search process?
In this challenging market, there are no magic solutions to getting hired. However, there are still some strategies young Canadians can use to help in the process.
Salopek says the first step is to stop treating the hunt as a “volume game only.”
“Applying to 200 jobs with the same resume is rarely the most effective strategy. A better approach is to target roles intentionally, tailor the resume to the posting, and make the employer’s life easy by clearly showing relevant skills, reliability, and results that match what the job is looking for,” she said.
To do that, job seekers should attempt to dig deeper into the company, hiring managers, and what it is that they are looking for in the role, so they can better tailor their application with that in mind.
Another big shift is to adopt a “positioning yourself as someone worth hiring” strategy rather than just submitting several applications. That means making what you can offer to the role loud and clear, regardless of experience.
“Employers are not just hiring experience, they are hiring potential, reliability, proven performance and attitude. Young candidates who can clearly communicate how they think, how they work, and how they add value tend to stand out quickly,” the expert added.
Featuring volunteering experiences, clubs, athletics, student leadership, hospitality roles, internships and projects is also a way to stand out.
Networking also remains a great way to get around the system. Developing relationships, even the informal ones, or reaching out to former managers, colleagues, professors, or other contacts might also help job seekers find opportunities beyond job postings.
What should job seekers avoid?
As the job market remains tough, even the smallest details can make the difference between getting hired or not.
“Professionalism still matters. Small details, how you communicate, attention to spelling and grammar, how you present yourself, how prepared you are, can make a significant difference, especially when employers are choosing between candidates with similar experience levels,” Salopek explains.
Salopek says job seekers should also avoid generalizations and quick-applying to multiple roles. It can be easier to stand out if they have a good online portfolio and great understanding of what the employer is looking for that is reflected in their application.
“I would also caution against waiting for the “right” opportunity. In a tighter market, momentum matters. Taking a role that builds experience, even if it is not ideal, can be a strategic move rather than a compromise,” she said.
Although it can be frustrating to remain on the hunt, Salopek says youth should try to avoid being discouraged and keep trying instead of assuming there are no opportunities.
“This is a difficult market, but difficult does not mean impossible,” she said. “Sometimes the most strategic move is taking an opportunity that builds experience, confidence, and credibility, even if it is not the long-term destination. Progression today is often non-linear, and early career decisions should be viewed as building blocks rather than final outcomes.”
