Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) 2009 - Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Canada Summer Jobs?

Canada Summer Jobs is a Government of Canada initiative that provides funding to support employers who create summer job opportunities for students while helping organizations providing valuable services to their communities.

2. What are the objectives of Canada Summer Jobs?

Canada Summer Jobs has three main objectives:

1. Provide work experiences for students;
2. Support organizations, including those that provide important community services; and
3. Recognize that local circumstances, community needs and priorities vary widely.

3. Who can apply for Canada Summer Jobs 2009?

Canadian not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees can apply for funding through Canada Summer Jobs.

4. What was the application period for Canada Summer Jobs 2009?

Employers could apply for Canada Summer Jobs from February 2 to February 27, 2009.

Applications received or postmarked after the closing date were not assessed .

5.Where could I apply for Canada Summer Jobs 2009?

Employers could get an application on line at www.servicecanada.gc.ca/csj2009 or in person by visiting any Service Canada Centre.

Employers could apply on line, or submit their completed application in person, by mail, or by fax to any Service Canada Centre.

To support employers, the Canada Summer Jobs Applicant Guide was available. It offered information on eligibility requirements and assessment criteria, including details on local priorities and the rating scale.

6. How were applications be assessed?

Applications were first reviewed to ensure that they meet the basic eligibility requirements. They were then assessed, on a constituency-by-constituency basis, using the following criteria:

• Service to local communities;
• Jobs that support local priorities;
• Jobs that provide career-related experience or early work experience;
• A salary that contributes to the student’s income;
• An employer who provides supervision and mentoring;
• Project activities that are directed toward members of, and support the vitality of, an official language minority community; and
• An employer who intends to hire priority students (students with disabilities, Aboriginal students, and students who are members of visible minority groups).

Service Canada officials may contact applicants to discuss the funding request and to determine appropriate numbers of positions and weeks, or to discuss other details about the projects. These discussions are part of the assessment process and do not guarantee funding.

7. What are local priorities, and where are they available?

The assessment of applications was carried out on a constituency-by-constituency basis, ensuring that local priorities were reflected in the assessment.

Examples of local priorities may include:

• special events (sport, cultural or other event of local, provincial/territorial, national or international scale);
• location (such as rural or remote or areas of high unemployment); and
• sector (such as the not-for-profit sector, tourism, agriculture).

The lists of local priorities, along with the other criteria used in assessing projects, were available on the Internet, through the Youth Info Line, and at any Service Canada Centre.

8. When will employers be notified of the decision regarding their application?

Employers will be notified in May 2009. The assessment and validation periods are designed to have students at work beginning in May 2009.

9. How will the job postings be publicized?

Employers are responsible for hiring the students.

Service Canada Centres for Youth (SCCYs) provide a variety of services, free of charge, to help employers advertise summer work opportunities, and to help youth looking and applying for jobs in their communities. These centres are located in communities across Canada and are generally open to the public from May to August.

10. How many employers will be able to hire students through Canada Summer Jobs?

Canada Summer Jobs plays a key role in meeting the needs of students, while supporting organizations that provide important services to communities.

The number of employers able to hire students will depend on the types of projects employers propose, and the duration of student employment for each project.

In 2008, the Government of Canada concluded agreements with more than 20,000 organizations to support the creation of about 36,000 summer jobs for students.

11. What levels of funding are employers eligible for?

Not-for-profit employers are eligible for up to 100 percent of the provincial/territorial minimum hourly wage and mandatory employment-related costs.

Public-sector employers and small private-sector employers with 50 or fewer employees are eligible for up to 50 percent of the provincial/territorial minimum hourly wage.

12. Which students are eligible to participate in Canada Summer Jobs?

Eligible students:

• Are between 15 and 30 years of age;
• Have been registered as a full-time student in the previous academic year and intend to return to school on a full-time basis in the next academic year;
• Are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or have official refugee protection status under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and
• Are legally entitled to work in Canada, according to relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations.

13. What is the Summer Work Experience program?

The Summer Work Experience program is part of the Youth Employment Strategy, and is comprised of initiatives aimed at providing secondary and post-secondary students with summer employment opportunities. The Summer Work Experience program also supports services delivered by the Service Canada Centres for Youth.

To learn more about youth employment opportunities:

• Call 1-800-935-5555

• Click on www.youth.gc.ca

• Visit your local Service Canada Centre

14. How else is the Government helping students?

Initiatives such as Canada Summer Jobs is only one way the federal government is helping students.

Through Budget 2009, the Government of Canada is providing an additional $10 million a year in 2009 and 2010 for Canada Summer Jobs.

Other measures the Government has taken include:

• Significantly increasing annual transfers to the provinces and territories for post-secondary education. These transfers are up by more than $1 billion since 2006. The Government is earmarking $3.2 billion for post-secondary education, in fiscal year 2008-2009, through the Canada Social Transfer.

• Committing $123 million over four years starting in 2009-2010 to streamline and modernize the Canada Student Loans Program. Every year, more than 300,000 students take advantage of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s Canada Student Loans Program to achieve their learning goals.

• Consolidating the Canada Student Grant Program, which will provide $250 every month for low-income students, and $100 a month for students from middle-income families. For low-income students with dependants, the Program will also top-up the monthly payment to $200 per child under 12 years old. As well, the new low- and middle-income grants will be available for all years of undergraduate study, whether university, tech or trade school, or community college.

• Making it easier for students to manage their debt load by replacing the Interest Relief and Debt Reduction programs with the innovative Repayment Assistance Plan. Under this new plan, students would pay no more than 20 percent of their income towards their loans.

• Helping students with permanent disabilities to pursue post-secondary education by forgiving the loans of borrowers who are unable to repay their loans due to a severe permanent disability. As well, the Government will introduce an accelerated version of the Repayment Assistance Plan. This measure will ensure that students with permanent disabilities pay back only what they can afford, but for these students, no debt will remain after 10 years, as opposed to 15 years. It will also take into account the extra costs faced by disabled borrowers when calculating repayment assistance.

• Providing a 20-percent grant on contributions made to a Registered Education Savings Plans to help Canadian families put money aside for their children’s higher learning.

• Helping modest-income families to start saving early for their children’s post-secondary education through the Canada Learning Bond.