The Canadian Community Economic Development Network is excited to announce our fifth invitation for organizational members to apply to employ youth through the CreateAction: Inclusive Social Innovation work experience program. Not already a member? Check out how you can join the network (including barrier-free options) by visiting CCEDNet’s membership page. (Note: you only need to become a member if selected; you don’t need to be a member to apply).
About CreateAction
The purpose of CreateAction is to provide employment and career-relevant learning opportunities to youth involuntarily not in education, employment or training (NEET) and/or underemployed -AND- facing barriers to employment. These placements will take place under the terms and conditions of a contribution agreement between the Canadian CED Network and Employment and Social Development Canada as part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.
The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) and the National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) are working in partnership to deliver the CreateAction program with funding by Employment and Social Development Canada and with evaluation support from the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation.
All work experience placements will support youth to further their career interests in community economic development, social innovation and/or off-reserve Indigenous service delivery infrastructure and provision of culturally enhanced programs and services to urban Indigenous residents.
This call for proposals is for placements taking place from May 1 to October 27, 2023 (26 weeks). The CreateAction program will provide youth with a wage of $21/hour for 37.5 hours/week. Employers may volunteer to increase their youth’s wages at their own expense. The deadline for submitting applications is February 26, 2023 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
“The CreateAction program allowed us to create new positions temporarily to see how they fit into our organizational structure, and they both were very successful. We were able to build our capacity to keep these new positions permanently, and the youth in each placement were the perfect fit, so we offered the positions to them, and both accepted. Really grateful for the opportunity CreateAction has provided us to build our capacity.”
– Heidi Dixon, Operations Coordinator, First Light St. John’s Friendship Centre.
*Please note that only one placement will be granted per employer.
Employers will be selected according to the following criteria:
Organizational capacity to recruit youth facing barriers to employment
- ability to recruit youth who are involuntarily not in employment, education, or training (NEET) and/or underemployed
- demonstrated ability to recruit people who are Indigenous, Black, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, newcomers to Canada, and/or live with disability;
Organizational capacity to support youth facing barriers to employment
- commitment to supporting and accommodating the needs of youth facing barriers to employment and a willingness to increase organizational capacity accordingly;
- have a position available that aligns with the level of a youth facing barriers to employment, and be willing to adapt the position based on the skills/abilities of the engaged youth;
- commitment and organizational capacity to assist youth with their daily work, providing coaching and career development support;
Organizational capacity to engage in a community of practice
- commitment to participate in a peer support network of employers;
- dedication to supporting the youth in leveraging the work experience into full-time employment or study; including youths’ short-term career goals post-placement
- capacity to adequately support skills development for youth, with additional support from the CreateAction partners;
- relevance of proposed work experience to community economic development, social innovation, and/or off-reserve Indigenous service delivery infrastructure and provision of culturally enhanced programs and services to urban Indigenous residents (visit NAFC’s website).
Priority will be given to organizations that provide social supports for adults or youth as part of their mandate (e.g. organizations serving or supporting newcomers, refugees, survivors of violence or people escaping abuse, formerly incarcerated people, and people experiencing/overcoming mental health challenges, substance use disorders, precarious housing, etc). We will also consider geographic diversity in our selection (e.g. rural, remote, northern, francophone communities outside of Quebec, and urban disadvantaged communities with recent immigrant populations).
Employers will:
- actively seek out youth candidates from diverse backgrounds with barriers to employment;
- hire a youth who is the best fit for the CreateAction program;
- identify candidates by April 21, in order for work experience youth to start placements on May 1;
- become a member of the Canadian CED Network after selection, if not already a member.
Build a culture of support and connection
- offer a meaningful 26-week employment opportunity;
- provide youth with an orientation to the employer;
- develop, at the beginning of the placement, a Learning Plan to provide sufficient support services to enable youth to succeed at their placement;
- provide sufficient resources and time to effectively supervise and mentor work experience youth;
- provide, with support from the CreateAction program, career advice, regular feedback and guidance to youth and assist youth in laddering into further career-relevant employment or education at the end of the placement and post-placement;
Engage in a community of practice
- participate in employer community practice including virtual sessions with the Canadian CED Network and other selected organizations;
- set aside a minimum of:
- six (6) hours per month for the youth to participate in peer learning activities, and
- three (3) working days for the youth to participate in an in-person or online learning event.
- contact the Canadian CED Network for support and guidance if ever there are issues that you or the youth are experiencing and whenever the youth might be absent from work;
- work with the CreateAction program evaluators on youth and employer evaluation-related activities, such as activities involved with a midterm check-in and a final evaluation;
CreateAction partners (CCEDNet, NAFC and SRDC) will:
Provide a meaningful and enriching workplace experience
- pay youth directly at a rate of $21/hour (though employers are welcome to top up the amount) and cover MERCs (mandatory employment-related costs);
- provide, in concert with employers, tailored wraparound supports for youth including supporting the capacity of employers in their ability to provide social support for youth;
- work with employers to offer mediation support or resolve disputes arising with work experience youth; including any decision to terminate the work experience placement as a last resort;
- conduct baseline, end-of-placement, and 3-month follow-up surveys with youth and an end-of-placement survey for employers to monitor progress, track youth learning, and capture youth outcomes, career expectations and satisfaction.
Coordinate employer and youth communities of practices
- provide a robust peer learning and peer mentoring work experience for youths’ ongoing professional development for the duration of the placement;
- coordinate the youth community of practice that will include weekly drop-in video conference calls for youth to learn, share experiences, and network;
- coordinate the employer community of practice that will include employer video conference calls for employers to share experiences and network
To participate in the CreateAction program, eligible youth must be:
- involuntarily not in education, employment or training (NEET) and/or underemployed;
- a youth experiencing barriers to employment;
- between 15 and 30 years of age (inclusive) at the start of placement;
- Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or protected persons as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
- legally entitled to work in Canada;
- legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations.
If you require an offline application, please contact Beatrice Anane-Bediakoh at the coordinates below. The deadline for submitting applications is February 26, 2023, at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
Youth interested in the program should apply directly to the employers.
For more information, please contact Beatrice Anane-Bediakoh, Program and Engagement Manager, at .
