High school job seekers weighing heavily on unemployment rate: CIBC

Job seekers get assistance with resumes at an immigrant job, career, education and settlement fair, in Vancouver, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

TORONTO — A report from CIBC says the high levels of unemployment among high schoolers is making the overall job picture look possibly worse than necessary.

Young people are being hit especially hard by the soft job market, with the unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 19 hitting about 22 per cent in March, according to Statistics Canada.

The CIBC report, however, questions whether teenagers still in school who are unable to find a job should be weighed the same as older jobseekers trying to support a family.

When high school students are removed from job data, CIBC says the unemployment rate falls to 6.2 per cent, compared with the 6.7 per cent result from March.

The report says that while some high school students need to work to support themselves or their families, policy-makers should focus on young people who aren’t in school and who also aren’t either working or looking for a job.

It says the share of this vulnerable segment of the population, amounting to about 470,000 people, is roughly steady from 2019 as a share of the total population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press