Report Says Canada’s Students Hurt by Tuition, Few Jobs, Baby Boomers

Canada’s university and college students are dealing with high tuition, fewer jobs, and baby boomers who won’t retire. This is according to a new report from Community Foundations of Canada.

Their report, titled Canada’s Vital Signs 2012 -Vital Youth, was released earlier this week and paints a bleak picture for today’s young Canadians.

“The linear path from school to career, home ownership, and family has disappeared,” said Ian Bird, President and CEO of Community Foundations of Canada.

“We want communities to recognize that this is ‘the new normal.’ We need to work with youth to find better ways of preparing and supporting them for a journey that is less certain and more fragmented.”

The report says today’s youth is faced with:

• Debt that can take 14 years to pay off.
• A labour market that forces 1 out of 3 to move into a low-skilled job after graduation
• A youth unemployment double the national average. In June, it was 14.8% compared to the national average of 7.2%
• Tuition that has risen up to 200% in some provinces in the past 20 years
• An workforce full of baby boomers who were supposed to have retired by now.

“If any country can grapple with these challenges, it’s Canada,” said Bird. “We are one of the best educated countries in the world. But like others, we need to come to grips with the gap between who is thriving and who is being left behind. The consequences of inaction are too serious – for young people and our communities.”