“An entrepreneurial mindset is not about starting a business” Entrepreneurship empowers youth to look at life from a holistic lens. Prof Michael Lounsbury, Canada Research Chair, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation & co-founder of the University of Alberta’s eHUB

“Entrepreneurship is a set of capacities, critical thinking, and research skills general for all students that can be useful in anything they want to do from starting a company to transforming a corporation, from solving big social innovation problems to creating non-profits and reinventing public service...” University of Alberta School of Business.

Our New Research Update 2021 -2022

The State Youth Report by the Federal Government of Canada responds to a commitment to Canada’s Youth Policy | Census and Statistics Canada

SIYS meets the needs of Canadian youth addressed in the State Youth Report (2021), https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/state-youth/report.html

written by youth and federal government researchers using 1000 youth across Canada from diverse backgrounds reporting on their views in six key areas; truth and reconciliation, environment and climate action, health and wellness, leadership, and impact. employment, Innovation, skills, and learning. SIYS is working to meet the needs of the youth who called for more mentorship, leadership, and skill-building opportunities where they can make impacts in their communities through our 5-week program where they learn to build agency through working with diverse populations and communities learning new skill sets and uses of software technologies.

NEET Status in Canada

The Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the NEET (not in employment, education or training) indicator, March and April 2020

Research & Information Provided by SIYS

In February of 2020, 12% of Canadian youth (aged 14-29) were not in education, employment, or

training (NEET); this rate is similar to previous years and has been fairly consistent for the past few

decades (Statistics Canada, 2020). NEET status in youth is associated with many forms of long

term economic, psychosocial, and health challenges and has shown to lead to significant costs to

both the individual and the economy (Henderson et al. 2017). For example, a 2018 Canada Public

Health Office (CPHO) report estimated that just alcohol and tobacco cost Canada $26.6 billion in

2014 alone due to things like healthcare, lost productivity, and criminal justice costs.

Mental Health Impact

Although occurrence of mental health and addiction (MHA) and criminal activity have been

identified as causes of NEET status (O’Dea et al. 2014), research shows that there is a bidirectional

relationship which creates continuous cycles of exacerbation (Goldman-Mellor et al. 2016). In a

2019 report released by Statistics Canada, NEET youth (aged 14-29) were compared to non-NEET

youth and shown to have higher percentages of poor or fair mental health, serious contemplation of

suicide, and residency in households within the lowest income quintile. The report also mentions

how despite available research on the sociodemographic, educational, and employment

characteristics of NEET youth, very little data is collected about the psychosocial well-being of

these youth in a Canadian context; this creates obstacles in understanding and addressing the

issue.

Youth Unemployment

The youth unemployment rate in Canada reached highs of nearly 30% in 2020 due to COVID-19,

and although it has since decreased, economists forecast that it will remain constant at around

15.5% until at least the end of 2021 (Trading Economics, 2020). This rate of youth unemployment is

nearly 50% higher than the 10.8% reported in 2019 (Statistics Canada, 2020) and will only serve to

compound the social problems many youths face today. The percentage of NEET youth also rose

during this time to a 20 year high of 24% in April of 2020, leading to an immediate need for

increased youth services to ensure future recovery from the impacts of the pandemic; according to

Henderson et al, once someone has held NEET status, the odds of them becoming NEET again in

the future goes up.

In February 2020, just before the pandemic, the NEET rate for young Canadians aged 15 to 29 was 12%, - a rate
similar to that observed in each February in recent years. This rate rose to 18% in March 2020, the first month
during which pandemic-related measures were implemented. In April 2020, the NEET rate increased again to reach
24%, the highest rate measured in the past 20 years.1 All age groups typically considered for NEET rate studies
(15-29, 15-19, 18-24, 20-24 and 25-29) showed significant increases, with April rates being approximately two to
three times higher than those observed in February 2020 (Chart 1)

graph2 — Among Canadians aged 20 to 24 and 25 to 29, the increase in NEET rates during the first
months of the pandemic was mostly caused by a decrease in employment
Young Canadians aged 15 to 29 are a diverse group and the reasons they may be NEET vary with age, as they
transition from primarily being in school, to entering the labour market, and through their early labour market
experiences (Brunet 2019).
From February to April 2020, NEET rates increased by +14 percentage points for Canadians aged 20 to 24 and
+13 percentage points for those aged 25 to 29. During this period, a decline in employment contributed to most of
the increase in NEET rates2 for these older age groups, with the proportion of employed non-students decreasing
by 9 percentage points for those aged 20 to 24 and by 11 percentage points for those aged 25 to 29 (Table 1).

SIYS Research | Pulled from Statistics Canada

Among Canadians aged 15 to 19, the increase in NEET rates in the early months of the

pandemic was primarily because of youth reporting not attending school

In April 2020, the proportion of youth aged 15 to 19 who reported “attending a school, college or university”

(Statistics Canada 2020c) during the reference week decreased by 9 percentage points compared with February

2020 (Table 1). This accounted for most of the increase in the NEET rate (+ 10 percentage points) for this age

group, which is dominated by students. This decrease was already observed in March 2020, when most of the

school closures occurred across the provinces and territories.

It is likely that these closures, as well as the change in the way in which education was delivered, are the reasons

why youth reported not attending school, rather than students actually dropping out of their studies. This is

supported by the fact that a significant decline is also observed among 15- to 17-years-olds, for whom education is

compulsory in the majority of the provinces. However, data from the LFS on school attendance cannot distinguish

between young people who are not attending school because they have dropped out and those who did not attend

school because of school closures.

Canadian youth plan to continue their studies despite the COVID-19 pandemic

In the context of the pandemic, some young people may be tempted to delay their education because of a drop in

income, or because of a change in education delivery (e.g., shift to online learning).3 However, the data show that

young Canadians do not intend to stop their studies because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From May to August, the LFS asks Canadians aged 15 to 24 whether they were full-time students in March and

whether they are planning to return to full-time studies in September (Statistics Canada 2020c). The proportion

who indicated their intent to return to their studies was similar in May 2020 to what was measured in May of

previous years.4 This was observed for both the younger (aged 15 to 19) and the older (aged 20 to 24) age groups,

and for both men and women. Actual education participation rates can be measured starting in September 2020.