40 Percent of Canadian Youth Say Jobs a Major Concern: Poll

People walk past the University of Toronto campus in Toronto on June 10, 2020. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

Nearly 40 percent of Canadian youth say unemployment is their top concern, according to a new poll.

The survey was conducted by the Angus Reid Institute. It found that nearly two in five of those between 18 years and 24 years (37 percent) said jobs and unemployment was the top issue facing the country.

That is up 9 percentage points from June (28 percent) and nearly double from Decemeber 2024 (18 percent).

The poll results come after a rough summer for young job seekers. Unemployment for those aged 15 to 24 years was at 17.5 percent in July, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. That was the highest rate for the month of July since 2009, excluding 2020 during the COVID pandemic.

Eight percent of survey participants aged 18 to 24 reported concerns over jobs an unemployment in 2022, which increased to 14 percent at the end of 2023 and 18 percent at the end of 2024.

“That incremental climb, however, has been overshadowed by precipitous movement in 2025,” the survey found.

Survey also found that two-in-five Canadians (40 percent) were concerned someone in their household might lose a job. That number was 52 percent among those aged 18 to 24 years.

The top issues for Canadians overall were cost of living at 53 percent, health care at 38 percent, and housing affordability at 27 percent.

About three in five, 57 percent, of survey participants said that they are not able to keep up with the cost of living. In February 2022, that number was 53 percent, in February 2023, it reached 60 percent, and was 61 percent in January 2024.

At the bottom of the list of issues was relations with the United States, including tariffs, which dropped from 41 percent in March to 18 percent in September.

Canadians under 35 are the least likely to report feeling their job is “totally secure” (30 percent) compared to other age groups, with 19 percent saying their job was “mostly” or “totally” insecure.

For those between 18 and 34 years, 24 percent said they felt “hard pressed” financially, while 23 percent said they were “getting by,” another 37 percent said they were “secure” financially, and 16 percent said they were flourishing.

Those over 65 years saw the highest financial health scores, with 18 percent saying they were flourishing, 46 percent said they were secure, 16 percent said they were getting by, and 20 percent said they were “hard pressed.”

The survey was conducted online from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, 2025, with 4,330 Canadian adults.

As an indication of the struggle youth faced finding work this summer, the Toronto Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) saw more than 54,000 online job applications for more than 5,000 seasonal positions. The two-week long fair runs from Aug. 15 to Sept. 1.

About 4,000 job candidates starting lining up at 5 a.m. during the CNE job fair on July 30.

Olivia Gomm and Matthew Horwood contributed to this article.