By Yuna Cho

The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 reached 14.1 per cent in February, approaching the 14.6 per cent recorded in September 2025—the highest level since 2010, according to a report by Statistics Canada.

Youth unemployment grew from 12.8 per cent in January. 

Nick Hazell, a first-year English student at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), said he was unable to secure a summer job in Toronto and plans to return to his hometown of Cobourg, Ont. for the summer.

Hazell said he applied to jobs at Tim Hortons, McDonald’s, Metro and many clothing stores at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. 

“I found that it was just they were always overstaffed and they were never hiring because it’s just easier to get [those] kinds of job,” he said. 

Hazell has previous work experience in the food industry, working at a Dairy Queen for two and a half years as a supervisor and eight months at a Tim Hortons.  

Hazell’s experience is not unique. Tenzin Kunsang, a first-year social work student at TMU, said she struggled to find jobs or internships in the summer. Kunsang said she submitted approximately 30 resumes in-person, but did not receive any response. 

As an international student, she faced additional barriers in the job search. “Almost every job here  [requires] reference[s]. Since I was not born here, I don’t have this network [and] it is hard [to get a job] for not just me, but my friends [too],” she said. She eventually secured a summer job through a friend’s referral.

The Statistics Canada report also highlighted that the unemployment rate for Black youth reached 23.2 per cent, 17.4 per cent among Chinese youth and 13.0 per cent among South Asian youth—higher than that amongnon-racialized and non-Indigenous youth (11.2 per cent).

Kunsang said she initially applied to full-time jobs and was unemployed for about three months, before she began to blame herself after repeated rejections. 

“‘Do I have not good experience? Am I really not going to [get] any job at all?’ I was worried about it,” she said. “But then I realized it’s very common [to struggle finding employment]. So I was like, ‘oh it doesn’t matter’ because a lot of people are also…facing this problem.”

After returning to an old job in Cobourg, Ont., Hazell expressed concerns about the cost of living. 

“I would say I pay about…70 to 80 dollars a week on gas. And then on top of that, my car insurance, [and] just everything overall, it just takes a lot more money out of me,” said Hazell, who will have to spend an hour driving back and forth from work.

He added that youth unemployment is a larger problem in bigger cities, as it affects young people’s independence and life planning. 

“They can’t get a job, they can’t live properly, they can’t do anything on their own, they have to rely on their parents,” he said. 

Timothy Lang, president and CEO of Youth Employment Services, a non-profit organization based in Toronto that provides job search counselling and training to youth, said they see tens of thousands of people every year.

Some industries are always in demand, like healthcare, but others like engineering and marketing have seen a decline in hiring lately, Lang said.

“It’s been harder than many years [prior], because there’s been more competition for the same amount of jobs,” he said. “The other difficulty is that so many organizations are using electronic submissions only, or AI, and that has meant, on the one hand, sure, it’s easy to apply to hundreds of jobs, but it’s also easy for everyone to apply. So one employer who 10 years ago, might get 50 resumes, now they’re getting 500 so [resumes are] getting lost in the shuffle.”

Despite this, Lang said he would encourage job seekers to keep trying and be positive. He also suggested people should take advantage of employment services and career councils, as well as leverage any network they have.

“Above all, it’s a numbers game,” said Lang.

The growing youth unemployment rate adds burdens to Toronto students, who are already navigating high rental costs and increasing grocery prices. According to the March 2026 Rentals.ca Rent Report, the average rental price in Toronto for a two bedroom is  $2,857, which would typically be divided for two students.

The Career, Co-op & Student Success Centre said in a written statement that “to support student employment, TMU’s Career Boost program continues to offer a diverse set of student job opportunities, providing students with hundreds of paid work experiences every year.”