Liberals’ changes to summer jobs program caused confusion, documents show
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OTTAWA — Organizations seeking to hire students through the federal summer jobs program can start filing their applications today, a process that federal officials have sought to improve to avoid the confusion that sparked a massive spike in incomplete forms last year.
A briefing note provided to the federal labour minister last year noted officials had to ask more than 12,000 applicants to the 2019 Canada Summer Jobs program for more information, or to clarify parts of their application, before they could figure out whether they were eligible for funding.
That number was unusual because just one year earlier, there were only 2,000 such requests for clarification — at a time when the Liberals found themselves mired in controversy over changes related to abortion and LGBTQ rights that prompted protest from many faith-based groups.
Employment and Social Development Canada is attributing the uptick in errors and omissions to changes it made to program eligibility criteria that required more details on the jobs, as well as mentoring plans, workplace conditions and policies on harassment and discrimination.
