Ottawa students struggle to find summer work as unemployment rises

Many young people in Ottawa are struggling to find jobs as unemployment reaches its highest level in recent years.

According to Statistics Canada, 20.1 per cent of returning students — people aged 15 to 24 who attended school full time in March and who intend to study again in the fall — were unemployed in May, up 3.2 per cent from the same month last year.  

Excluding the pandemic years, that's the highest rate since 2009, the agency said.

Unemployment for young people in the same age bracket who are not returning to school has also increased to 12.2 per cent, compared to 11.6 per cent last year.

"It's been horrible," said Shannon Simbi, a Grade 11 student in Ottawa.

Simbi said she has applied to various positions at restaurants, retail stores and a retirement home without success.

 "They aren't hiring students, it's so bad," she said.

Ella Eklo is also struggling to find a job in the city. 

An international student from Ivory Coast who will soon graduate from the University of Ottawa with a degree in economics, Eklo said she has applied for numerous jobs during the past six months.

So far, she's only managed to land a single interview for a position as a camp counsellor.

"I have more opportunities in my country than here," said Eklo, who is thinking of returning to Ivory Coast if her job hunt is unsuccessful.

Ayoub Ben Sedrine has been applying for IT developer positions but hasn't heard back from any employers.

As his graduation from Algonquin College approaches, Ben Sedrine is widening his search, looking at internships and volunteer opportunities as well.

"Honestly it's making me sad and frustrated because after all my hard work and spending time studying and stuff and then I don't get responses," Ben Sedrine said. "I feel like I'm wasting time."

Several students complained of frustrating experiences with online job sites. Stella Rose, who is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts in acting, said she only managed to find a job after directly canvassing business owners. 

Now working at ByWard Market's children's store Tickled Pink, Rose described job hunting as "hard," as many places didn't accept resumes in person.

"I applied to tons of places on Indeed, my boyfriend applied to 50 to 100 places on Indeed, and no one was reaching back out," she said, referring to the online job site.

"Everyone is hiring, but no one is hiring," Rose added.

David Mangano, the co-owner of The Grand Pizzeria and Bar, said he employs around 70 students. Although he's fully staffed, he still gets applications daily.

"I've noticed over the last year, there's a lot more people looking for work. So in the spring we triple our numbers for employees," Mangano said. "We actually start sort of collecting resumes around the end of February for training in March."

Mangano said he had a shortage of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, now the opposite is happening. 

He said he has received an influx in resumes, particularly among international students and new Canadians who are looking for work. 

"I think it's a bit tough out there," Mangano said. "I think the job market is a little light for the number of people looking for work."

Ethan Eggett is a student at Carleton University who has started his own business, Westboro Student Painters. 

Eggett said his decision to employ other students for painting jobs is both strategic and convenient.

"I wanted people who were only willing to work for four months of the year and then basically get laid off," Eggett said. "As well, it's a selling point. A lot of clients love working with students."

Eggett added he basically works part time throughout the year to run the business, which includes training the students he hires.

Like Mangano, Eggett also hires a lot of students in the late winter and spring seasons. He also receives applications on occasion, even though he's fully hired his eight-member team for the summer.

On Friday, Jobs Minister Patty Hadju said the government is adding 6,000 more positions to the Canada Summer Jobs program, but that won't come until later this season.