Career Focus Green Jobs (2016-2019)

April 2005 – March 2019

Industry need: Private sector companies regularly argue that it can be risky to take on new graduates with no previous work experience in the sector. This viewpoint is in line with research recently conducted by BioTalent Canada’s member organization – Life Sciences Ontario (LSO). LSO released a Sector Report in 2015 for the province, which represents Canada’s largest concentration of bio-economy companies, employers and employees. Their report stated the unemployment rate of Ontario Science graduates between 20-24 years of age with a minimum university degree was 18.9%, demonstrating the need to assist new grads in the transition into their new career.

 

Objective: To mitigate this problem, The Career Focus Green Jobs Program minimizes risk to small to medium sized biotechnology companies hiring a new grad into a green job by covering the cost of that new graduate’s salary by 50% to a maximum of $13,500/year. The overall objective of this project is to place 300 new post-secondary graduates within green jobs in Canada and Canada’s bio-economy. It will increase the number of qualified employees available to bio-economy employers with a focus on green initiatives. It will also facilitate the transition of recent post-secondary graduates into the labour market and increase their knowledge of the sector’s needs through recent and practical work experience. Furthermore, it will play a role in creating jobs that benefit the environment.

 

News releases:

 

Funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy.