'It’s not too late' for local youth to land a summer job in Windsor-Essex

There are more than 600 open positions in the region through the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program, according to federal officials.

“We just want [youth] to know about it and apply,” Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk said Thursday at Bike Windsor-Essex during a news conference about CSJ. “It's not too late.”

Kusmierczyk said youth have until July 22 to apply for jobs that will wrap up at the end of August.

The CSJ program offers 70,000 jobs across Canada for youth between 15 and 30 years of age.

In Windsor-Essex, there are 600 jobs up for grabs, at non-for-profits, public sector organizations, and private companies.

“100 per cent of the [salary] cost is covered for not-for-profits and for public sector organizations and 50 per cent of the [salary] costs are covered for small businesses,” Kusmierczyk said.

“Quite frankly, if it wasn't for the five to six students that we receive for the summer programs, we wouldn't be able to do what we do,” said Lori Newton with Bike Windsor-Essex.

Newton said their students spend the summer at day camps, conducting safety training and offering bike tune-ups.

For students like Amalia Vacratsis, finding a good summer job was a struggle.

“Especially because all the university students are in the same position, right? Everyone wants a job. Everyone wants as many hours [as they can get],” she said.

Working alongside Vacratsis is Sophie Waters, a four-time CSJ worker for Bike Windsor-Essex.

“We're currently working on a project, giving 50 bikes out to migrant workers in Leamington. So, it's awesome to be a part of that,” said Waters.

Meantime, Workforce Windsor-Essex has hundreds of jobs on their database, according to CEO Justin Falconer.

“There are 3,800 active jobs available to search through and find,” said Falconer. “A quick keyword search like ‘summer’ brings up over 800 matching listings that youth can be browsing through.”

Once the job is discovered, Falconer said the best thing youth can do to land the role is have an up-to-date resume that is written with the job in mind.

“You get one opportunity to impress your employer,” said Falconer.