Credits: Fanshawe College
Statistics Canada released a report Friday detailing student unemployment rates across Canada. According to the report, Ontario is at 20 per cent unemployment among students, up from 15 per cent last August. Fanshawe students expressed stress and frustration at the difficult job market.
“I had to find a job through the school as an RA in order to find something stable. I noticed my mental health has completely skyrocketed,” one second-year student remarked.
This after she spoke about a summer of rejections from different positions.
“I even got rejected from McDonalds,” another student said.
He had a background in restaurant management, and had been working in kitchens for the better part of the last five years.
“I’ve been looking for a job for a couple months over summer, and just no luck so far. I printed out maybe 30-40 resumes, and just went place to place. Only had one in person interview from all that, and no calls back. I figured with my background I’d always be able to at least work in food,” he continued.
It was a particularly difficult summer for students across Canada seeking employment. Among returning students the unemployment rate is up 4.5 per cent for young men and then 3.3 per cent for young women across all of Canada. Students in racialized groups saw even larger jumps in unemployment with Black students seeing a 10.1 per cent jump and Chinese students seeing a 7.4 per cent jump. Other South Asian students saw a 5.1 per cent hike in the unemployment rate compared to 2023.
The Fanshawe Student Union offers employment to Fanshawe students for students struggling to find a job. A list of their current openings can be found here.
