Plenty of cash for student jobs this summer, Gerry Byrne says

The Newfoundland and Labrador government may have cut funding to the Summer Student Employment Program, butAdvanced Education and SkillsMinister Gerry Byrne says because of an influx of federal government cash, there will be more summer job opportunities than ever for local students.

"We had a marginal reduction," Byrne said Wednesdayat the Employment Centre Office in downtown St. John's.

"Last year,our expenditure was approximately $2.2 million. This year,we're budgeting just around $2 million."

Byrne said the province received fewer applications in 2016, something he thinks could be due to the increased availability of federally-funded spots.

Feds pick up slack

In June, the Trudeau government announced they were more than doubling the number of student positions funded through the national Canada Summer Jobs program.

Byrne said that increase will lead to 300 to 400 new summer positions in Newfoundland and Labrador as compared to last year.

"With the additional $1.4-million in funding from the federal government, I think we really should be seeing just about every student or most students that are seeking employment should have a reasonable opportunity of being able to get that," Byrne said.

Program open to post-secondary students

The provincial Student Summer Employment Program allows employers and to apply for a wage subsidy to help hire post-secondary students for the summer.

It's open to both private sector companies and nonprofit organizations. This summer, it will employ 1067 students.

Students looking for job leads can consult the complete list of approved projects on the government's website.

PCs say provincial cut 'disappointing'

The opposition isn't convinced the federal increase will fill all the gaps left by the provincial cut.

"I haven't seen the evidence that at the end of day we're going to have more students employed,"said ToryMHA David Brazil.

Brazil said he would have liked to have seen the province's funding maintained, especially in face of economic challenges.

"The fact that it's cut substantially is disappointing," he said.

"The value of work experience for students in the summer is immense here."