Students facing bleak job market this summer

It's thetime of year when many university students are on the hunt for that all-important summer job thatwill help finance their higher education.Butin the wake of COVID-19, many are scrambling to find work in a dismal employment landscape.

"Bleak" is the wordUniversity of Ottawa student Chris Wright uses to describesummer job prospectsfor him and his friends.

• 'Cast aside': Student job seekers say they've been forgotten in federal pandemic plan

The 22-year-old political science student was set to work ata downtownhotel during Ottawa'sbusy tourist season, but that opportunity has dried up. Typically, visitors from across the country and around the globe flock tothe National Capital Region during the summer months, but COVID-19 has pulled the plug on virtually all travel.

"Everyone is still in panic mode with the pandemic, and even after that I don't think anyone's really going to be willing to travel yet," Wright said.

Anxious about the future

In his Kingston, Ont., apartment, Queen's University economics student Shane Weston, 23, is studying for final exams and feeling anxious about the future.

"I don't know what I'm going to do because nobody's hiring," Weston said. "Itjust it seems like opportunities are not available right now."

Chanelle Collins, 21, isfinishing up her bachelor of arts degree at the University of Ottawa and has enrolled inthe school's teaching program nextfall. She's been laidoff from her part-time waitressjob because of COVID-19.

Make sure that they have the financial resources to get back into school when the full semester comes, with or without a job.- Lily Akagbosu, CUSA

Collins had secured a full-time summer government job through the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP), butlast week shereceived an email statingthe program hasbeen put on hold.

Collins saidshe wasdisappointedbut not surprised, "just considering everything that's going on."

Last year 8,050 students received paid placements andvaluable training through the FSWEP.

But in a letter to applicants obtained by CBC, the prospective employerwrote: "Due to the limitations of our current work arrangements we, unfortunately, are no longer able to proceed with our student hiring for this upcoming summer."

ThePublic Service Commission of Canada said it's too early to know how COVID-19 will affect the hiring of students across government.

"While in recent weeks student hiring has fallen to less than half the usual rate, concerted efforts are being made to encourage student hiring," the commission wrote inan email to CBC.

Students need financial help

The president of the Carleton UniversityStudents' Association saidthe full impact of this summer'slost wagesmay not become apparent until next fall, when it's time for students to pay tuition.

"I think the government should definitely prioritize students having the capacity to return to school," said Lily Akagbosu, who represents 26,000 students.

Akagbosu praises government programs that providefinancial incentives to companies that hire students, but believesin this dismal job market, some students may need direct financial aid instead.

"There is definitely need to really consider what sort of supports are available to our students," Akagbosu said. "I think there could be special benefits or grants."

Akagbosusaidshe's most concerned for students who don't have other sources of financialsupport such as family or employment insurance.

"Especially our most marginalized students," she said. "Make sure that they have the financial resources to get back into school when the full semester comes, with or without a job."

• What you need to know about the new COVID-19 benefits program

Both Wright and Collins consider themselves to be among the lucky ones becausethey both held part-time jobs throughout the school year, which qualified them for the Canada emergency response benefit, or CERB. Eligible Canadians can earn approximately $2,000a month through the federal aid program.

"If it weren't for that then I would pretty much be without any way of earning money over the summer," Wright said.