P.E.I. youth unemployment recommendations released

Recommendations to reduceyouth unemployment in P.E.I. were released Tuesday by Charlottetown MP Sean Casey and the Youth UnDERemployment Committee Wednesday.

The committee's report made a series of recommendations for the three levels of government, the business community and educational institutions.

The recommendations include a career preparation course into the education curriculum, establish a youth advisory group, reduce student loan interest, provide post-secondary education support andmentor programs.

The recommendations come a year after Casey formed the action committee after holding a town hall meeting on the subject of youth unemployment and youth underemployment.

Youth unemployment rate on P.E.I. is 2.3 times higher than the national average.

In Dec. 2015, Statistics Canada released a report that showsthe overall unemployment rate in the province is 9.8 per cent, butstands at 15.7 per cent for youth ages 15 to 24. The numbers show 10 per cent of women in that age range are unemployed, but that doubles for young men who have an unemployment rate of 21.2 per cent.