Young Canadians are facing historically long bouts of unemployment

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New study points to litany of challenges, including ‘low-hire, low-fire’ job market and tariff uncertainty

Landing a new job after being unemployed can be tough. For a growing share of out-of-work young people, the hunt hasn’t been this difficult since the early 1980s, according to a new study.

Among unemployed men aged 20 to 24, the share who have been out of work for six months or more has spiked to 27 per cent, the highest level since 1983.

For many unemployed women in the same age group, the job search is even worse: 28 per cent have been looking for work for at least half a year, the highest share since at least 1976.

Weakness in the job market for young Canadians has been in sharp focus in recent years. But while the unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds is generally in line with the long-term trend, the plight of unemployed people entrenched in lengthy job hunts at the outset of their careers was churning higher even before the latest spike.

What’s more troubling, unemployed young adults with university degrees have been no better off this year when it comes to the duration of their job hunts than those with a high school education or less, according to a report from the C.D. Howe Institute, written by economists Parisa Mahboubi and Tammy Schirle.

Unemployed workers with college diplomas or trades certificates are faring better but more are engaged in lengthy job searches than at any time since the mid-1990s.

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The authors point to a litany of challenges facing those at the start of their careers, including a weakened “low-hire, low-fire” job market, uncertainty around U.S. tariffs and the lingering effects of remote work on junior hiring, though they found little evidence so far that artificial intelligence is displacing young workers in Canada.

Whatever the cause, “weak hiring and fewer entry-level opportunities risk trapping young adults in a cycle where they cannot gain the experience employers demand,” they wrote.

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