Deadline: 22-Nov-23
The Government of Canada is inviting applications for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program to empower and support youth in their employment and career development.
Program Objectives
- The objectives of the YESS Program are:
- To help youth overcome barriers to employment, with a particular focus on under-represented youth including Indigenous, 2SLGBTQI+, Black and other racialized youth, youth in Official Language Minority communities, and youth with disabilities
- Ensure all youth participants have access to wrap-around supports that are tailored and responsive to their individual needs
- Ensure organizations engage with employers to inform the design of programming or facilitate successful conditions and opportunities for quality work experiences for youth facing barriers
- Assist youth in developing a broad range of skills and knowledge in order to participate in the current and future labour market
- Promote education and skills acquisition as being key to labour market participation
- Improve capacity, increase performance, and increase impact measurement across the youth employment sector
What this program offers?
- The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program (YESS Program) provides funding to organizations to deliver a range of activities that help youth (aged 15 to 30) overcome barriers to employment. In particular, the YESS Program focuses on youth facing multiple barriers to employment by supporting them to develop the skills and gain the experiences they need to find and keep quality jobs. The YESS Program supports a flexible approach that offers services tailored to each individual. As such, applicants must clearly demonstrate how their project will respond to individual youth needs. This can include mentorship, wrap-around supports (for example, mental health counseling, coaching, etc.) and paid work experiences. The 2023 YESS Program CFP is expected to provide eligible organizations with over $300 million over four years, with a maximum funding per agreement of $5 million per year.
- This CFP aims to fund Projects that support all youth facing barriers to employment. In addition, this call includes a Youth with Disabilities Stream that seeks to increase the availability of inclusive programming supporting youth with disabilities. Twenty percent (20%) of the funded projects will focus on serving and addressing the unique employment challenges faced by youth with disabilities. To be considered under the Youth with Disabilities Stream, proposals need to demonstrate that they meet specific criteria, as outlined in the Who Can Apply section.
- Applications submitted through this intake could be considered for funding under both the Youth Facing Barriers to Employment Projects and the Youth with Disabilities Focused Projects.
- This CFP also incorporates a pilot initiative, which aims to help not-for-profit, youth-serving organizations improve their collection and use of data. Improving data collection and use supports continuous improvement and more effective responses in the youth employment sector. The pilot will be conducted as an experiment aimed at enhancing organizational capacity (for example, staff development, utilization of digital tools, data-driven testing, etc.). Taking an experimental approach helps the department to determine successful practices, which ultimately fosters program effectiveness and efficiency.
Eligible Projects
- To be considered for funding, all proposed projects must:
- Directly serve youth furthest from employment
- Assist youth to gain the skills, tools, information, or work experience needed to transition into the labour market or return to education
- Engage with employers to inform the design of programming or facilitate successful conditions and opportunities for quality work experiences for youth facing barriers
- Utilize, or clearly articulate how the organization will work towards using an intake mechanism to determine how to address employment barriers faced by each youth participant
- Provide participants with access to individualized, wrap-around supports
Eligible Activities
- Proposals could include the following activities:
- Activities designed to enable stakeholders to develop and plan eligible projects
- Activities that support the development and use of tools and products for learning, skills development, career planning and career development
- Service activities, which include but are not limited to outreach, client assessment, case management, career development information, and job search and job retention assistance
- Activities designed to enable youth to acquire and enhance skills, which include but are not limited to pre-employability skills, employability skills and advanced employability skills
- Activities designed to provide work experiences
- Activities designed to provide wrap-around services to support youth employment needs, such as mentoring and coaching
Funding Priorities
- Priority may be given to proposed projects that:
- Are submitted by youth-led organizations (with at least 50% of organization’s leadership (director positions and above), and/or if applicable, at least 50% of the organization’s governance body (for example, Board of Directors) being between 15 and 30 years of age.)
- Are submitted by grassroots organizations that are often small, local organizations that offer supports to youth at the community level
- Are submitted by organizations whose leadership (at least 50% of organization’s leadership (director positions and above), and/or if applicable, that at least 50% of the organization’s governance body (for example, Board of Directors)) reflects the youth communities they aim to serve
- Are submitted by organizations that serve equity-deserving communities that are key priorities for the YESS Program including: Indigenous, 2SLGBTQI+, Black and other racialized communities, and persons with disabilities
- Support youth facing multiple and compounding barriers to employment (for example, early leavers from high school, youth living in low-income households, unhoused youth and youth experiencing precarious housing, single parent youth)
- Involve working in partnership with other youth employment stakeholders
- Test social innovations to improve project outcomes for youth
- The selection of recommended projects will aim to have regional coverage across Canada, with service to youth in rural, remote, and urban settings, including Official Language Minority Communities.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants
- This Call for Proposals aims to provide funding to successful applicants whose projects are designed to support youth facing barriers to employment, equipping them with a diverse range of skills and knowledge, and preparing them for active participation in the current and future labour market. The applicants must offer activities with demonstrated effectiveness in addressing the needs of the targeted youth. The selection process will prioritize applicants who present inclusive programming that considers the intersectional identities and experiences of all youth. The goal is to provide comprehensive and individualized support for the applicants’ target youth participants.
- Eligible Contribution Recipients
- Eligible organizations may only submit one application.
- Eligible recipients for this Call for Proposals include:
- Not-for-profit organizations (including registered charities, voluntary organizations, and foundations)
- Municipal governments
- Indigenous organizations (including band council, tribal councils, and self-government entities)
- For-profit organizations (provided that the nature and intent of the funded activity is non-commercial and not intended to generate a profit)
- Public health, educational and cultural institutions
- Provincial and territorial governments, institutions, agencies, and Crown Corporations.
- Eligible recipients for this Call for Proposals include:
- Eligible organizations may only submit one application.
For more information, visit Government of Canada.
