Career Focus

Under the Youth Employment Strategy, Career Focus provides funding for employers to help post-secondary graduates obtain career-related work opportunities in Canada to support their development of advanced skills, to help them make career-related links to the job market, and to assist them in becoming leaders in their field.

Career Focus offers youth a range of work experiences, learning and skill-building activities to help them choose careers and to encourage them to pursue advanced studies.

Eligible Participants

To participate in Career Focus, youth must be:

• between the ages of 15 and 30 (inclusive) at the time of intake/selection;
• post-secondary graduates;
• Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or persons on whom refugee protection has been conferred;
• out of school;
• legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations; and
• not in receipt of Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.

Note: Post-secondary graduates are limited to participation in one Career Focus project.

Who Can Be A Recipient

Businesses, organizations (including not-for-profit, professional, employer and labour associations), public health and educational institutions, band/tribal councils, Aboriginal organizations and municipal governments.

Career Focus Delivery

Service Canada delivers the following components: 

• National Career Focus - provides financial assistance to employers and organizations to deliver projects that are national in scope to provide post-secondary graduate youth with work experiences within Canada.

• Regional Career Focus – is administered through a network of regional/local offices located across the country. These projects provide financial assistance to employers and organizations to deliver projects at the regional and local levels.

Human Resources and Social Development delivers the following components: 

• Sectoral Youth Career Focus - provides financial support to National Sector Councils and other cross-sectoral organizations. These organizations in turn develop work experience opportunities for post-secondary graduates.

• International Academic Mobility (IAM) - supports Canadian post secondary institutions in offering international learning opportunities to their students.

Application Procedures

Interested employers should contact their local Service Canada Center and consult the Youth Employment Strategy Guide for Applicant.  The guide helps applicants to develop proposals in order to obtain federal financial assistance, offered by Human Resources and Social Development Canada, in accordance with the Government of Canada Youth Employment Strategy.  The guide also provides a description of the roles and responsibilities related to carrying out the approved projects.

The present guide provides information on three Youth Employment Strategy Programs:

• Skills Link
• Career Focus
• Summer Work Experience

The interested post-secondary level graduates should contact the local Service Canada Center in their region, in order to obtain information concerning the program(s) operations.

More information

To obtain further information about Service Canada and its programs, please contact your local Service Canada Centre.

Other federal government departments and agencies delivering Career Focus

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency 
• Canadian Heritage  
• Canadian International Development Agency  
• Environment Canada 
  • International Environmental Youth Corps
  • Science Horizons Youth Internship Program  
• Industry Canada   
  • CAP Youth Initiative
  • Computers for Schools (TWEP) 
• National Research Council Canada
• Natural Resources Canada

More information for employers and youth

• Applicant Guide for Skills Link and Career Focus programs
• Canada Student Loans Program
• Career Exploration Resources
• Essential Skills
• HRSD Youth Employment Strategy programs
• Other government YES programs
• Youth Awareness
• Youth Employment Information Products and Services
• Youth.gc.ca

About the Youth Employment Strategy

Eleven Government of Canada departments and agencies work in partnership with business, labour, industry, not-for-profit and voluntary organizations, rural and remote communities and all levels of government to help young people get the information and develop the skills and work experience they need to prepare for and participate in the world of work. Read more about this initiative or call the Youth Info Line at 1 800 935-5555.