By Maisha Hasan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Brianne Meyer was in the midst of wrapping up her first year at Queen’s University, looking to participate in the time-honoured tradition of a summer job in between semesters, a way to make cash for textbooks, rent, and the occasional night out, along with other necessary expenses. When local opportunities proved scarce, she looked farther afield and eventually found seasonal work in Tobermory. Her struggle reflects a broader trend: youth employment in Canada has dropped to its lowest point in 25 years, with Burlington experts noting that entry-level jobs are increasingly hard to secure.
The summer before, Meyer, who lives in the Waterdown-Carlisle area, had worked at a country club. She emailed them again in hopes of securing the same position but with additional hours, as she found that her previous hours were not up to par with the demands of the budget she needed to accommodate.
Despite her position the summer before, the club could not meet her request for more hours, and she was left to look for another job.
“I applied to a bunch of landscaping jobs, painting jobs, and general labour around Flamborough. I got a couple of interviews on Zoom for like four different places…none of them worked out. I got through three rounds of interviews for one landscaping company in Flamborough. By the third round, they were like, ‘Yeah, no thanks,’” said Meyer.
Meyer’s list of credentials and past jobs is long and varied in experience — summer camp, a gymnastics studio, a vehicle repair centre, and of course, the country club. Despite this, she was rejected from every job she applied to within a 50-kilometre radius.
After applying via every job website and stopping by every bulletin board, Meyer decided to go in a different direction.
“It was just so hard to find something. And then I [thought], ‘You know what? I’ve got to think outside the box — where would [a workplace] have hours, need workers, and be seasonal? Well, up north, they have a great tourist population, and they only operate between summer months cause they can’t operate in the winter.’ So I might try my luck up there…I went through two interviews with the company when I got the job,” she said.
The only catch about a job up north was relocating up north.
“I tried to embrace the adventure of it…it’s going to be hard, but in the end, it’ll be the benefit of learning how to live alone. I chose to look at it in a positive way, but it was difficult, and I definitely feel the effects of it now — I kind of would have rather been at home for the summer, but you try to embrace both sides of, ‘Oh, I’m employed, I’m living life, I’m getting a lot of hours, I like people I work with.’ Stuff like that,” Meyer stated.
Despite the loneliness the decision brought, it also came with personal growth and recognition.
“It’s definitely not for everyone. I’m definitely very independent from my parents, and they trust me a lot. Not to say that I’m more competent than the average teenager, but I trust myself to make decisions, and I trust myself to live on my own…coming up here was a jump even for me, and it definitely wouldn’t have been for everyone,” she added.
The job, at a hotel in Tobermory, provides staff with housing (and roommates), as most of the seasonal workers are hired from out of town, though some are locals. Meyer pays $500 in rent each month, without the added cost of groceries, gas, and other necessities.
Through her uphill battle to secure a job, Meyer hopes future employment will come easier. She is thinking not only of herself, though, but also of other youth entering the workforce.
“[We need to] Get people under 18 employed, but I think it just might be the job market in total. I guess also because older people are staying employed longer. You can go to a grocery store now, and the clerk [is older], it should be a young person behind the counter. Not that I have anything against old people, it’s just that the prejudices against younger people are very prevalent. Every kid can make a good employee.”
The statement resonates with youth across the country, including in Burlington. Burlington Economic Development and Tourism Executive Director Anita Cassidy and their manager of economic development, Andrew Elliston, provided their sympathies and viewpoints as to why youth are struggling with unemployment currently.
“When there’s economic uncertainty in the economy, with tariffs, global affairs, or trade, typically speaking, hiring is pulled back on. And there are even layoffs that happen; we’ve been forced on the layoff side. There haven’t been that many in our community for the most part, but as far as new hires are concerned, especially for summer jobs and things like that, it’s directly impacted, because that’s something that’s not automatically on their overall business plan or their balance sheet,” Elliston said.
“Businesses needing to figure out the tariffs, that can be a reduction in employees, less hiring, shift reductions…that is impacting your employment rates because there are less opportunities there for people entering the workforce for the first time. People are trying to figure out ways, when they’re under pressure constraints from a revenue and cost saving perspective, to retain their existing employees,” Cassidy added.
As of July 2025, the youth employment rate fell to 53.6% — the lowest rate since November 1998, as reported by Statistics Canada.
“There is a large economic action happening at the same time as you’ve got a large number of people entering the workforce, and it’s very much cyclical. If you look back at your typical recession time, or ten, fifteen years ago, we were having these same issues when businesses were in contraction. Youth tend to pay for those times of contraction. We’ve got generations today that are still recovering from when we had those gaps at the entry level, and they didn’t really get that opportunity to enter the market and build up their career,” Elliston said.
Despite how bleak this sounds, and beyond the scope of summer jobs, there are things someone can do to increase their chances of snagging a job.
“This is the most challenging youth labour market that we’ve ever been in. I can say a couple of things. One is don’t just focus on the employers that come to mind immediately. There are businesses that you’ve never heard of that service everything from the auto industry, all the way to festivals and to the electrical grid. Those are the ones who need people the most and want to hire the most, in my opinion,” Elliston continued.
In terms of hiring services and organizations to look out for, he recommended the Centre for Skills and the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade.
“Don’t give up. It does take time, especially in this economy. But even in those periods of hardship, there’s going to be a period of prosperity afterwards,” Elliston said.
“When the economy comes back, people will be in growth mode again, and there will be those hiring opportunities. As Andrew said, there are a lot of fantastic service providers out there that you can work with. You don’t have to do it yourself,” said Cassidy.
Cassidy recommends looking at Employment Ontario’s Ontario Service Providers information page, YMCA, and joining SHSMs in high school to build long-term connections and partnerships, especially in internships.
For Meyer, the job search experience shows how tough it can be for young people to get a foot in the door close to home. For Burlington, it raises questions about how the city, employers, and schools can better support students so they don’t have to leave town to gain valuable experience. With youth employment slipping, the choices made now could shape both students’ futures and the local economy.
