The Government of Canada made a funding announcement of $600,000 to expand entrepreneurial opportunities and create more jobs for Sudbury youth.
Increased opportunities for young people who are interested in developing entrepreneurial skills or gaining on-the-job work experience is critical to building a strong, diverse, inclusive and innovative economy in Northern Ontario, says Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre.
That’s why, on World Youth Skills Day, Lefebvre, along with Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, announced more than $3.9 million in federal investments to support youth initiatives and young entrepreneurs across Northern Ontario, including $600,000 for 12 projects in Sudbury.
“Today’s announcement will help stem the flow of youth out-migration in Northern Ontario by creating meaningful employment opportunities and skills-training for young Canadians, while supporting our next generation of entrepreneurs,” Lefebvre said.
“I am pleased that FedNor investments are delivering results for Northern Ontario youth, which includes creating more than 1,750 jobs through its youth internship initiative.”
COVID-19 and related public health and travel restrictions are severely impacting private businesses and the organizations that support them.
The Government of Canada continues to work with small business owners, communities and business organizations to help throughout the pandemic as they adapt their strategies and activities to address the COVID-19 realities.
Successful Sudbury organizations to share in youth initiatives funding are as follows:
Art Gallery of Sudbury / Galerie d'art de Sudbury: Assistant Preparator & Facility Operations Support in circulating exhibitions to new locations, produce a plan going forward for exhibition readiness and build new exhibition production partnerships - $47,250
Barterpay Northern Ontario: Barterpay would like to expand an office to North Bay with the support of a Youth Intern - $24,000
Cinefest, The Sudbury Film Festival Inc.: Marketing Development Officer would work with new and existing consumer data to identify audience and economic trends as they relate to Festival activities - $31,500
Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario: Promoting innovation and expansion in sustainableagriculture, particularly targeting young farmers with mentoring, clean tech adoption and on-farm research and innovation - $245,892
Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce: Youth Intern to assist with the planning and execution of second annual Procurement, Employment and Partnerships Conference - $31,500
Green Economy Canada: Network Innovation Coordinator Internship to research and create new innovations - $31,500
Independent Living Resource Centre Corp.: Marketing intern to support expanded reach and financial sustainability of organization - $31,500
Komri Engineering:Youth intern to determine the best use of Revit and its tools within Komri Engineering's current design processes, including training staff - $30,000
Le Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario: Stagiaire va appuyer la direction technique pendant les spectacles professionnelles et communautaire, l'entretient technique et les productions de saison 2019-2020, etc. - $31,500
MIRARCO: To hire an industry liason officer to support MIRARCo - $31,500
reThink Green: Youth Intern as Technical Support will help proponent with their Green Economy North Program - $42,000
Social Planning Council of Sudbury: Youth intern supporting food economy initiatives inGreater Sudbury - $31,500
“Today’s announcement is further proof of the Government of Canada’s commitment to supporting young entrepreneurs through this difficult time,” said Lefebvre.
“Helping young people acquire essential on-the-job training or navigate their way through a career in entrepreneurship will help set Northern Ontario on a course for future prosperity. Initiatives like these will only become more important as our economy rebuilds and evolves in the years to come.”
Additionally, Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré announced that $63,000 will be flowing directly to Nickel Belt to support the creation of two youth positions in the region.
Delivered by FedNor, this funding will support the Wahnapitae First Nation and the West Nipissing Chamber of Commerce to each hire a youth intern.
In Wahnapitae First Nation the intern will focus on the implementation of several priority projects for the community.
The West Nipissing Chamber of Commerce intern will develop a Business Visitation program that will identify the needs of local businesses and develop strategies to support growth and sustainability efforts.
“By investing in youth initiatives in Northern Ontario we stand to build a stronger future socially and economically. Continued funding from FedNor has enabled mutually beneficial opportunities for employers to hire dynamic and ambitious youth and for interns to develop their skills and further their work experience while making a difference locally," said Serré
"I look forward to learning of the benefits of these projects and will continue to advocate for funding to support our youth and local enterprises in Nickel Belt
– Greater Sudbury which will in turn help strengthen our local economies."
