As students struggle to find work in a tumultuous job market, they worry for their finances—and their futures

By Daniyah Yaqoob

On a hot mid-July afternoon, Daksh (Dash) Patel walks into a downtown Toronto Chipotle franchise with one goal in mind: he’s going to get himself a job.

As he enters the restaurant, he feels a sense of assuredness. The dining room is bustling with activity while staff barely manage the barrage of burrito orders. With his skills and their shorthandedness, the job will be almost guaranteed, he thinks to himself.

Patel—a recent environmental sciences graduate from the University of Toronto—had applied to hundreds of jobs in his field of study, but every single one either ghosted his application or sent him a rejection email. He might as well have memorized the standard template, each a disappointing variation of, “Sorry, we’ve gone with another candidate for the position.”

A few months after graduation, Patel had come to terms with the reality that he’d have to apply for jobs outside his field and—despite his qualifications—he’d need to seek out part-time work in the service industry.

After a five-minute wait, the hiring manager walks into the dining room, clipboard in hand. Patel spots something in her hand—a stack of resumes, centimetres thick. As he eyes it, his expectations begin to lower.

He soon finds out that the interview—which he’ll be giving alongside another candidate—will take place in the middle of the crowded restaurant. Nevertheless, he tries to keep his hopes up.

“What’s your availability?” asks the manager, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the patrons. 

The interview lasts around 20 minutes. When it’s over, the hiring manager tells him to expect a response within three days on the online recruitment service the restaurant employs—fittingly named ‘Avocado.’ Three weeks later, he still hadn’t heard back.

“That made me realize…no wonder it’s been hard for me,” Patel says. “It’s bad for everyone else.”

At the time of the interview, Patel had already made the decision to go back to school. He’d been accepted into Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) civil engineering program, and will be attending this September. He’s now hoping the additional qualification will make it easier for him to find a job.

Traditionally, summer is a time for students to work, build their soft skills and add to their savings. But this summer that’s been much harder to do.

Right now, young Canadians from coast to coast are facing an unemployment rate of 14.6 per cent, the highest since 2010 if you exclude the pandemic years. In Ontario, it’s even higher, with a rate of 15.8 per cent for those aged 15 to 24. And among university students who are returning this fall, the rate is a staggering 17.4 per cent. 

Hilary Hagar, a research and evaluation assistant at the Future Skills Centre (FSC), an organization that researches Canada’s changing labour market, says the youth unemployment crisis—as many now call it—will have far-reaching consequences on both the individuals facing it and the economy at large. From financial instability to effects on mental well-being, sparse job opportunities for Canadian students now will only lead to more struggle in their futures.

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Dressed in her best business-casual attire, Wynona Fernandes, an incoming TMU first-year student, watches the other candidates at a group interview for a position at Cineplex fiddle with their resumes and twitch with anxiety. The bustle of the mall where the theatre is located sets the tone on that early January morning. Fernandes is confident about her chances—she has years of volunteer work  to back her and a three-month job experience that she learned valuable skills from. But in speaking with her fellow candidates, she realizes the range of people competing for the same position as her—high school students, college graduates, even a former amusement park manager. Her confidence when entering the interview quickly wanes.

The hiring manager tells her she’ll be contacted by the end of the week if she gets the job. She waits anxiously, until the end of the week comes and the next week begins, and hears nothing.

“It can be a little disheartening at times,” she says.

Fernandes, who will be studying urban planning this September, graduated high school in 2024. After deciding to hold off on pursuing a degree, she had turned her attention to looking for work. Having been in the trenches of the job market for a while, she’s noticed things worsen over the years.

“Even when I did apply for jobs throughout high school, [employers] were getting back to me,” she says. “But now, it’s just the amount of applicants that they get. You’re not getting anything back.”

Data from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows that on average, young Ontarians are spending more time searching for work compared to previous years. Where 15 to 19-year-olds spent eight weeks looking for a job in 2019, they are now spending 15 weeks to do the same in 2025. Those aged 20 to 24 spent an average of 17 weeks looking for work in 2025 compared to 10 weeks in 2019. 

This summer, in the absence of a job, TMU computer science graduate Choyon Uddin spent his mornings doing chores—from taking care of the lawn to running errands for his parents. In the evenings, he meets with friends or spends hours at the gym. During the day, he works on coding projects, ensuring his computer science skills do not dull and that when, hopefully, employers respond to his applications, he’ll have more experience under his belt. He also constantly finds himself scrolling through LinkedIn, which Uddin refers to as “corporate Instagram.”

It’s during the night, from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. that he sits down for “admin tasks” like applying to jobs, working on his resume and making connections. He signs up for job fairs on Eventbrite—his friends send each other job opportunities they come across. Uddin has push notifications for LinkedIn job openings, many of which go up at night. Even within half an hour of an opening, Uddin notices hundreds of applicants have already submitted their resumes for consideration. Since May, he has applied to around 500 jobs—but until a recent successful application, he had never made it past the interview stage.

For Uddin, finances top his list of concerns.

“I racked up student debts, right? So that…on top of going out, spending money with friends and whatnot…it racks up,” he says. 

Hagar says it’s not just paying for expenses today that’s concerning these students—data shows that unemployment now can affect earnings later in life.

“Unemployment when people are first starting their careers, whether it’s in high school or in post-secondary or just graduating post-secondary can have scarring effects for years to come,” Hagar says. “So this can impact someone’s career progressions.”

Research from FSC indicates that a one per cent increase in the provincial youth unemployment rate during a student’s year of graduation is associated with a 0.7 per cent decline in earnings for five years after graduation. Similar research quoted by The King’s Trust Canada found that a period of unemployment lasting more than six months for someone at 22-years-old could see an average reduction of eight per cent in their wage by age 23. This is a phenomenon referred to as “wage scarring” and can prolong the path to financial independence.

While Uddin personally hasn’t faced pressure from his parents to become financially independent, it’s something many youth desire. A recent report from the Toronto Youth Cabinet, a non-partisan organization that advocates for Toronto’s youth, found that 64 per cent of young people said a job would reduce their dependence on their parents.

Whenever Fernandes leaves the house, she keeps an eye out for ‘help wanted’ posters. She’ll snap photos of each one that she comes across, saving it for later review. She keeps a resume on her, in case she comes across someone hiring who might take it—which isn’t often anymore. 

Much of her commute to Rogers Centre—where she currently holds a seasonal position that will soon be wrapping up—is spent pursuing online job postings and making adjustments to her resume. As soon as she’s home from work, she has her parents or friends review her applications before submitting. But after months of cold-calling and applications—over 60 in total—have yielded nothing for her.

There are a few things that factor into why it has become harder for young Canadians to find jobs. According to The King’s Trust Canada, the increase in unemployment is a result of more people entering the workforce, while the number of available jobs hasn’t grown.

Hagar says that many part-time opportunities that youth tend to gravitate towards—like cashiers, clerical workers and servers—are susceptible to automation. Research that FSC did in Quebec found that 18 per cent of the workforce is vulnerable to automation either by robotization or artificial intelligence.

“Uddin, on the other hand, is now ‘numb’ to rejections—he’s applied to more than 3,000 jobs in the last two years”

“Even large companies we know, like Shopify, OpenText, are scaling back their hiring and recruitment programs because a lot of the work that would be done by, say, a junior analyst, a summer student, somebody fresh out of college or university is now being done by technology, because that’s cheaper,” Hagar says.

The elimination of entry-level positions causes a chain reaction. When youth can’t find jobs to sharpen their skills or get the experience that every employer seems to require, it’s harder to get their foot in the door anywhere, Hagar says. 

Uddin has found himself in this age-old predicament multiple times: to find employment, he needs experience. To get experience, he needs to be employed.

“I remember seeing a big company posting for an internship role and they were expecting two to five years of experience. That makes absolutely no sense,” he says. “Even if you work every single summer, you wouldn’t get two years of experience.”

Hagar says that though many are quick to speculate that an influx of international students and newcomers is the problem, data doesn’t necessarily back that theory. 

According to Indeed Hiring Lab, even when there was a surge in newcomers, it wasn’t accompanied by a surge in people working. In fact, youth newcomers and international students have limited access to the job market on top of cultural and linguistic challenges they may face. 

Newcomers and international students aren’t the only group facing additional obstacles.

The King’s Trust Canada report also addressed unique challenges faced by specific groups of young people amidst the unemployment crisis. Indigenous youth continue to face stereotypes and prejudices while finding work. Racialized youth face hurdles in the form of microaggressions and discrimination. Youth with disabilities face barriers within society that either don’t accommodate their needs or make them hesitant to disclose them. 

Hagar says more focused work must be done to address the unique struggles all of these young people face in finding employment, for real progress to occur.

Hagar says right now, policy isn’t addressing the long-term consequences of the youth unemployment rate. She suggests advancements in career guidance systems for young people and steps towards integrated learning between universities and industries could improve their chances of success in the future.

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In the summer before he enters Grade 11, Aaron Hernandez, now an incoming TMU electrical engineering student, sits in the quiet of his local library in Richmond Hill. His fingers sweep across the keyboard of his laptop as he drafts resumes and cover letters. It’s a motivated and eager pursuit. Many told him if he puts in the effort, he’s guaranteed an interview. He spends time carefully tailoring each resume to the specific place he’s applying to—even if it’s a general position at Walmart or a line cook. But as the summer passes him by, he doesn’t hear back from employers. Hernandez decides to call it quits and try again next summer—it too ends up being fruitless.

“I was very frustrated, especially since I wanted to make money,” he says. 

Hernandez eventually realized that if he wanted to secure his financial independence, he would need to try something different.

A group of his friends had started a cleaning business one summer, and he was now eager to get involved. He had manual labour experience in the past—working in construction for his father—and this could be his opportunity to finally get working. He went for it.

“People are just trying to get hired no matter what the job is”

Instead of spending a third summer waiting for rejections to hit his inbox, Hernandez is now going door-to-door offering window cleaning services. His schedule is his to decide and the profits—which he makes a fair bit of—are his to spend. He doesn’t see himself returning to the world of job applications any time soon when blue collar work has been a “rewarding” way to support himself.

According to Hagar, “People get so much more than just a paycheque from a job. We know there’s a sense of purpose and well-being people get from their work. Not to ignore the tangible things as well, like mental health benefits, dental benefits, extended health benefits.”

Fernandes—who remains without work—is familiar with the impact joblessness can have on a person’s well-being.

“With your resume, you’re putting your best of your best out there… and sending it to hundreds of people,” she says. “It can definitely be a bit of a mental toll on me, putting in the effort and not getting anything back.”

Uddin, on the other hand, is now “numb” to rejections—he’s applied to more than 3,000 jobs in the last two years. He says he now “speed reads” emails letting him know his application wasn’t successful. Instead of dwelling on it, he stays positive and simply moves on to the next opportunity.

But while he’s been able to carve out a good attitude surrounding rejection, he can’t deny the social impacts of unemployment.

At a family wedding in San Francisco this summer, Uddin was surrounded by relatives and friends a few years older than him—all of whom were holding down jobs.

Uddin didn’t feel looked down upon for his joblessness though—in fact, the guests empathized with his situation—but the experience still made him want to find work as soon as possible.

“I was the only one there without a job. And I was like, ‘wow, this kind of sucks,’” Uddin says.

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On a frigid night at the beginning of the year, Patel wakes up on the floor of his bathroom. His parents, looking concerned, are hovering over him. They tell him he passed out.

Patel knows exactly what’s happened—it’s happened before. He stayed up too late, drank too much coffee and his body reached a breaking point.

On most days this summer, Patel’s routine has looked the same. He gets up, brushes his teeth and settles into his living room to apply for jobs. The first half of his days are spent with his hand resting over the right-click button, saving job postings he comes across. The latter halves are spent adjusting his resume and sending them off to employers.

Finding work has become a 9 to 5 job for Patel in the absence of a paid gig—to the point that his physical health has also become a victim to the stress of a nightmarish job market. His parents notice the stress, his doctor notices and even his dentist—who says his teeth are being stained by excessive coffee—notices.

While these students’ plans looked solid as children—Patel dreamed his degree would get him a job in the sciences and Fernandes just dreamed of working at all—they’ve been forced to pivot in the face of an uncertain job market.

“People are just trying to get hired no matter what the job is,” Fernandes says. “Just because of how bad it is out there.”

Patel has submitted more than 500 applications in the span of a few months—with little to show for it. But still, tomorrow will be rinse and repeat.