Barriers to Employment

While most street-involved youth want to work legitimately, they face significant barriers:

1. lack of job opportunities: Ottawa has been experiencing levels of unemployment of 10% for the general population, much higher for this group who lack education, training, job skills and job experience;
2. low literacy: many of these youth have problems with reading and writing, which may be one of the reasons why they left school, and which places them at further disadvantage when looking for work;
3. lack of appropriate, individualized education and training: the education and training programs currently in existence are largely inappropriate to the needs of street-involved youth. For example, the structure of the alternative school system makes it largely inaccessible to many street-involved youth.
4. lack of government support: despite the fact that governments at all levels have indicated that youth unemployment is a high priority, their efforts in this area have been limited primarily to employment support for youth who are still in school. Employment and training programs to reach youth who have left the school system have actually been cut back, even though these are the youth at the highest risk.