Latest news with #VassBednar
Global News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Federal summer jobs site set for 50% jump in users as postings stay steady
New data from the federal government shows demand for jobs is on the rise, with the number of users and views on the Canada Summer Jobs portal up roughly 50 per cent compared with last year. At the same time, the number of jobs available on that portal has not kept pace with the rising number of potential applicants amid what some experts are calling a 'brutal' summer job market. Following a report from Global News on Thursday on the challenges facing young Canadian workers trying to find summer jobs, the Ministry of Employment and Social Development Canada sent a statement to Global News that includes data on the traffic on its Canada Summer Jobs portal. 3:25 Carney's cabinet begins job of delivering on his economic promises According to the data, the portal has seen more than 340,000 visits so far this year, with nearly 200,000 Canadians registering as new users, which the ministry says is on track for a full-year increase in visits of 47 per cent and a 50 per cent jump in user registrations compared with 2024. Story continues below advertisement Despite the large spike in new website visitors and users, the number of jobs posted so far this year has not changed much, if at all, compared with previous years. The report shows that so far in 2025, nearly 52,000 jobs were posted on the CSJ portal, compared with roughly 59,000 in total last year. This may indicate that there are far more potential applicants than there are jobs available for seasonal summer work. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy At the same time, the report shows there are still more than 80,000 job vacancies, or unfilled positions. This discrepancy between those looking for work and positions still available may raise eyebrows, and the reasons behind it may be complex. 'Economists will sort of always tell us … OK, these are the regions and the sectors where there's higher vacancies, ergo, that's where young people should go,' public policy expert Vass Bednar said. 'And what that discounts is this challenge, this real core challenge for young people in gaining that relevant work experience, right, they want to start their careers or continue their careers. 'And unless we are also going to be flexible as employers by saying, 'Hey, I recognize that work you did as a bank teller, as a store clerk, at a restaurant as having value in this other sector that looks or feels somewhat distinct and different,' then I think it's, again, almost unfair to tell young people, 'Take what you can get and work from there.'' Story continues below advertisement What summer jobs are highest in demand? The ministry says the summer job occupation with the highest number of applications received so far is administrative assistant with more than 31,000 applications. Construction trade helper was the second most popular with more than 19,000 applications, followed by food service supervisors at close to 12,000 and home support workers at nearly 11,000. Other summer jobs that were popular among users registered for the CSJ program include food counter attendants, accounting technicians and bookkeepers, administrative officers, cooks and home child-care providers. 6:03 Canada Post Strike Averted, but Overtime Ban Begins What is the government doing to help? Employment and Social Development Canada also says in the statement that the CSJ program will provide 70,000 summer job opportunities this year for young people aged 15 to 30, with an emphasis on those who are underrepresented in the labour market. Story continues below advertisement In addition to the CSJ program aimed more at seasonal positions, the government of Canada says it offers an array of programming intended to support youth workers throughout the year. These programs include the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, Student Work Placement, Supports for Student Learning and Canada Service Corps. In the 2024 budget, the government of Canada announced plans to allocate over $350 million specifically for the CSJ and YESS programs in 2025 and 2026. 'I'm hoping and thinking we might see more of a focus on supports for young people, more incentives for companies to employ young people either on a part-time, summer or initial basis,' Bednar says. 'Because frankly, we do need more places to take risks on and invest in the future of the labour force.'
Global News
22-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Still can't find a summer job? Why experts say it's ‘brutal out there'
Summer is just around the corner, and for many young Canadians struggling to find a job, this year may be one of the most challenging. In recent months, many age groups and sectors have found it difficult to land a job, but younger workers seeking seasonal positions or their first job after graduating are among those getting hit the hardest. 'Amidst tariffs and the extreme uncertainty that many (businesses) feel, it is absolutely brutal out there,' public policy expert Vass Bednar says. 2:57 Implications of the U.S.-China trade agreement for the Canadian economy Why is this year different? The trade war brought on by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies has led many Canadian companies to dial back plans as they brace for expected rising costs. Story continues below advertisement This also means hiring fewer new workers, and some have actually started laying off employees. 'As of early May, which is right around the time when seasonal job postings peak in Canada, summer job postings on Indeed were down 22 per cent from a year earlier,' says senior economist Brendon Bernard at job search company Indeed. 'There are only a few areas of the economy where job postings still significantly exceed their pre-pandemic level. Most are kind of in the ballpark of where they were in early 2020, with a few areas quite weaker. That tells me that there's a link between what's going on in the macro economy that spills over into demand for seasonal workers too.' The retail sector typically hires more workers during the summer for seasonal positions, which may include students. However, this year, many retailers are scaling back plans to hire more workers in order to stay afloat financially. 'Retailers, especially those that rely on imported goods — they face higher costs. Many could delay hiring plans amid that uncertainty as the trade strain may contribute to rising prices, potentially even product shortages,' says Santo Ligotti at the Retail Council of Canada. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I think an employer right now can afford to be picky in hiring. They know plenty of applicants, really of all ages, are vying for each opening.' Story continues below advertisement Larger retailers are already warning customers that prices will start to rise as a direct result of tariffs, and this trend will likely be seen with many smaller retailers as well if they have imported goods from the United States or China, for instance. 'It could cause Canadians to cut back on retail, and I think restaurant spending. They're worried about higher prices and so consumers are monitoring their spending and therefore retailers may have to hold back in terms of their hiring needs in the summer,' Ligotti says. It may be even more challenging to find work with smaller fashion and apparel retailers following the closure of Hudson's Bay stores across Canada, Ligotti says. 'There are 9,000 employees now entering the labour market who worked in some capacity at the Hudson's Bay Company and they're going to be vying for positions across all different sectors of retail, but especially in fashion apparel.' 4:34 Hudson's Bay finds a buyer for its brand trademarks. Will the sale diminish the brand's consumer appeal? What does this mean for young Canadian workers? For many young Canadians looking for work, there may be more at stake than just finding a way to get a steady paycheque. Story continues below advertisement Not being able to find rewarding and stable employment can also have lasting emotional impacts, especially for students and recent graduates. 'When people are firing out 100, 200, 300, 400 cover letters and CVs and never really hearing back, even that the position has been filled, it does start to colour and characterize their relationship to work and pursuing work and their motivation,' Bednar says. 'If we forget about young people's early employment prospects or just treat them as a casualty of economic uncertainty, I think we are going to scar this subset of the labour market quite early in a way that can be dangerous and alienating.' 2:52 Mark Carney sworn in as MP for Nepean riding How is the government responding? The government of Canada announced in last year's budget that it was allocating more than $350 million to the Canada Summer Jobs and Youth Employment and Skills Strategy programs aimed at adding and/or supporting 90,000 youth job placements and other employment opportunities, including seasonal summer positions. Story continues below advertisement It is difficult to know how much this will help offset some of the challenges young Canadians are facing trying to find work right now and approaching the summer. Although there may be more jobs added to this subset of the labour market this year, the number of applicants is also on the rise. 'Population growth has been especially fast among people under 25. And the fact is that this has been occurring at a time when employers are pulling back. And so we've got two trends kind of working in opposite directions,' Bernard says. Global News reached out to the federal government to ask about the summer job outlook given current and future initiatives for job creation and youth employment, but did not receive a response by publication time. What to do if you're still searching Summer camps are one of the most common niche employers that hire primarily seasonal positions consisting of younger workers and students, and some are still looking to fill positions. Story continues below advertisement 'We need a lot of staff, and we're nearly complete. Much of our hiring takes place between January and April, with May and June devoted to filling in the blanks. But I think the labour exchange is alive and well in the camp industry,' Camp Walden director Sol Birenbaum says. 'There are so many soft skill and hard skill benefits to working at summer camp above and beyond just the salary. My advice to young people is to do a full cost-benefit analysis.' Bernard at Indeed also advises young Canadians to do a full analysis of themselves in addition to the current labour market conditions. 'Set some expectations and have awareness of what's going on in the market, looking inward at your specific goals today and in the future,' Bernard says. 'What are you good at? What skills do you have? And what do you like? What are your interests? And that should be, I think, the starting point of thinking of a longer-term career path.'
Hamilton Spectator
06-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Canada's Wonderland accused of misleading online pricing by Competition Bureau
A federal tribunal has been tapped to decide whether Canada's largest amusement park operator has been taking consumers for a ride with deceptive sales tactics. The case, says a public policy expert, could set a record fine. The Competition Bureau filed an application against Canada's Wonderland on Monday, alleging that the theme park has been using 'misleading tactics' to lure the public into buying not-so-cheap thrills. The bureau's legal filing states the park ignored a formal cease-and-desist notice in July 2023 and continued to promote cheaper pricing on its website and social media channels that excluded mandatory processing fees, ranging from $0.99 to $9.99. These fees, the bureau alleges, were incrementally revealed during the purchasing process — 'dripping' into the final price. '(Drip pricing is) intended to deceive and to trick and to nudge people towards spending where they wouldn't otherwise,' said Vass Bednar, executive director of the master of public policy program at McMaster University in Hamilton. The bureau's lawsuit alleges 'Wonderland has engaged in this deceptive marketing practice, known as drip pricing, since at least June 2022 ... The processing fee is an ongoing source of revenue for Wonderland.' Canada's Wonderland, located in Vaughan and owned by the U.S.-based Six Flags Entertainment Corp., said the charges were 'unfounded' and 'unsubstantiated,' in a written statement on the park's website. 'Canadians should always be able to trust the initial advertised price,' competition commissioner Matthew Boswell said in a statement. In 2024, the Competition Tribunal ruled against Cineplex in a similar case brought forward by the Competition Bureau. The movie-house chain was ordered to pay a record penalty of more than $38.9 million, as well as legal costs. The fine was equivalent to the amount it collected from consumers through a $1.50 online booking fee between June 2022 and December 2023. Cineplex is appealing the decision. 'I would expect to see the bureau seek something similarly meaningful, especially considering Wonderland has been given substantial notice and warning,' said Bednar, co-author of 'The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians.' It's 'very intriguing,' Bednar said, that the bureau's case cites alleged examples of the park's misleading ads on social media. A screenshot from one of the park's Instagram posts is 'Example A' in the bureau's filing with the tribunal. 'Get ready for thrills all season long,' the post stated. 'Grab your Silver Pass now for just $89 and enjoy unlimited visits until Labour Day.' The park's website still features the $89 pass, the Star confirmed on Monday. To learn the final price, a consumer must click past a page of optional upgrades to get to another page with a green button that states 'pay in full' with the amount owing listed as $88.97. Clicking on that green button leads to a final page where the actual final price is revealed. The pass doesn't cost $89 but $107.56, which includes HST and a $6.99 'processing fee.'
CBC
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Who's protecting the 'beautiful, happy children' growing up online in influencer videos?
Mommy bloggers. Family vloggers. Kid-fluencers. Sharenting. There are any number of cute terms to describe the modern parenting phenomenon of sharing your children's lives online — and in the case of monetized influencers, making a hefty profit off them. But there's been a recent backlash to the sharenting trend, sometimes led by the kids of influencers themselves, and now some U.S. states even adding legal protections for children of online content creators. It's part of a growing reckoning about the dark side to those cute and funny videos of everyday parenting life. In Canada, despite some recent efforts to keep young people safe online, such as the Online Harms Act, current laws are lagging when it comes to the performative online work of children, explains Vass Bednar, the executive director of the Master of Public Policy Program at McMaster University in Hamilton. "I haven't seen any policy progress on this or even policy attention in Canada," Bednar told CBC News. "And maybe this is a generational problem, but we would still benefit from legislation in the meantime. Viewing your child as a potential way to monetize or perhaps get free stuff is, I think, so delicate and fraught." WATCH | Influencer explains why she's ditching gentle parenting: Why more parents are ditching the gentle approach 1 month ago Duration 9:20 A more empathetic approach, known as gentle parenting, has been a big trend in recent years, but experts and influencers are starting to push back. CBC's Deana Sumanac Johnson breaks down what's behind the growing resistance toward gentle parenting. Bednar admits that, like so many parents, she watches the cute influencer videos and funny reels when they come across her feed. Because there's a community to it, she explains. And as many studies and reports have pointed out, modern parenting can be extremely stressful and isolating. "But you start to wonder," Bednar said, "what is that like for those beautiful, happy children?" 'Building their brand … off their children' On Tuesday, Utah — a hot bed of family influencer culture with its large, nuclear families and religious lifestyles — signed a law that gives adults a path to scrub from all platforms the digital content they were featured in as minors and requires parents to set aside money for kids featured in content. Under Utah's H.B. 322 Child Actor Regulations, online creators who make more than $150,000 US a year from content featuring children will be required to set aside 15 per cent of those earnings into a trust fund that the kids can access when they turn 18. This follows the child abuse conviction of Ruby Franke, a mother of six who dispensed parenting advice to millions on YouTube before her arrest in 2023. She was sentenced to up to 60 years in prison for her abuses, which were motivated by religious extremism and included starving her children. Due to Utah law, she can only serve up to 30 years. Her now-ex-husband and some of her children had backed the child actor regulations bill. While Utah's move comes out of an extreme and chilling case, experts have pointed out that even parents with no intention of harming their children can exploit them due to the profit and fame that can come with influencer culture. "These parents are building their brand, and in turn their wealth, off of their children," noted a 2023 paper in the Chicago Journal of International Law. Utah's new law follows several other U.S. states that have added certain safeguards to the largely unregulated content-creation industry in recent years. Illinois, California and Minnesota have enacted laws protecting the earnings of young creators, and Minnesota's law includes a similar provision to Utah's that allows content featuring minors to be taken down. Canada's laws fall short Children working in entertainment is certainly not new. But while there are existing protections for child performers, Canada does not have any legislation that extends to children featured in social media content, explained Ava Smithing, a youth fellow at the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University. Yet, "this form of legislation is crucial," she told CBC News. And white Utah's new law suggests progress is being made, Smithing says she'd like to see Canada go a step further than making parents set aside 15 per cent of earnings because it's not enough to be a disincentive given how much money influencers can make. "It's like a drop in the bucket," she said. Canada's existing provincial labour laws fall short when the employer is the parent, says Bednar. For instance, Ontario's 2015 Protecting Child Performers Act sets out the requirements for employing child performers, but presumes some other entity is employing the child, she said. And there are rules about ensuring kids get adequate breaks, Bednar points out, but how does that apply when mom and dad are constantly filming your life? And in Alberta and B.C., it's unclear whether current employment regulations can apply to child influencers, notes a 2024 research paper published in the University of Victoria Law's Appeal Publishing Society. In general, the paper concludes that the legislation needs clarity. WATCH | Online harms act is an important starting point: Online harms bill an 'important starting point,' says child protection group 1 year ago Duration 7:41 The Liberal government is hoping to crack down on harmful online content with new legislation that proposes heavier sentences, new regulatory bodies, and changes to a number of laws. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection's Signy Arnason says this type of bill is 'critical' to protect Canadian children. The rise and fall of mom-fluencers Sharenting is a relatively new term to describe a concept that has existed since the 2000s, with the rise of so-called mommy bloggers and family influencers. But it increased dramatically during the pandemic, researchers have found. Alongside this, family influencers who document their family's daily lives on social media for revenue has skyrocketed in the last decade, according to the 2023 Chicago Journal of International Law research paper. Some families can make as much as $40,000 US for a sponsored Instagram post, the paper notes. And audiences seemingly can't get enough of it, especially when it comes to those big Utah families. Just look at the success of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, an entire reality show on Hulu about eight Utah TikTok influencers that made #MomTok an entire culture. It was recently renewed for a second season. Now, amid cases like Franke's, and as the children of influencers become old enough to speak out, there's been a mounting backlash. Memoirs like The House of My Mother — written by Shari Franke, Ruby's eldest daughter — have exposed the perils of influencer culture. Articles have appeared in magazines like Teen Vogue, where anonymous child influencers describe the stress of having their parents as their boss. "Nothing they do now is going to take back the years of work I had to put in," said one child YouTube star in a 2023 article. Some well-known momfluencers have shifted away from featuring their children online at all. For instance, TikToker Maia Knight, with 7.7 million followers, announced in 2022 that she would no longer be showing her twin daughters online. "I'm making a choice for my daughters to protect them," she said in a video on Dec. 23, 2022. "Am I going to lose followers? Yes, I'm going to. Am I going to lose eight million followers? I hope not. Maybe, but I doubt it." Of course, most parents out there aren't influencers making their children perform online, aren't buying new cars with their YouTube earnings, and may be keeping their social media more private. But Bednar says there are still important lessons here for all parents when it comes to child privacy. "That bigger question of what's appropriate to share online, or should kid's faces be blurred out, is important," she said. "Always having the awareness of a camera takes away an element of privacy and kind of an immersive nature of your childhood, if you're also always thinking about how you look, or your expression, or kind of performing happiness, too."
CBC
12-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Buy Canadian, bye-bye America?
Even with the tariffs on U.S. goods mostly on pause for the rest of the month, many are still doing what they can to "Buy Canadian" and switch their buying habits away from anything American-made. But how do you actually go about doing that? And should it extend into our digital and media habits too? Vass Bednar, executive director of McMaster University's Master of Public Policy and Digital Society program and author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians, joins us to wade through the murky waters of navigating a trade war in a country that's so intertwined with its neighbour to the south.
