Leaner Jobs Program Focuses on Need

This summer's Provincial Employment Program will be leaner and more focused on creating jobs in areas of high unemployment, Economic Development Minister Gordon Balser said today.

The $4.65-million summer jobs program will also direct funds to volunteer organizations so they can hire young Nova Scotians to work on worthwhile community projects, the minister said.

Mr. Balser said the summer jobs program reflects both the financial reality of the province and the recognition that it is not government but the private sector that must create jobs.

"However, we also understand that government can do some good by sponsoring short-term jobs in areas of high unemployment where young people would have real difficulty finding a summer job. At the same time we can help our vital volunteer sector with some worthwhile projects."

The program will create about 1,950 jobs, compared with last year's 2,632. Funding for fiscal 1999-2000 was $6,046,000.

The Provincial Employment Program focuses on summer career-related jobs for post-secondary students and work experience for unemployed people. Currently, Economic Development administers two-thirds of the program's budget in six areas, including student employment, co-op education employment, student loan employment, and university partnership.

The remaining one-third is committed to nine other programs in the departments of Education, Environment, Tourism and Culture, Community Services, Human Resources and Natural Resources, as well as the Nova Scotia Youth Secretariat.

The Nova Scotia Employment Program for Students, the largest of the programs, will undergo two key changes. First, it will no longer provide funding to municipal government and government-funded employers, thereby eliminating duplication with a federal program. Instead, the Nova Scotia program will concentrate on the not-for-profit sector and give community groups more access to student employees.

Second, a revised funding formula will result in more jobs in areas with unemployment rates over 10 per cent. Cape Breton and rural communities will benefit from this change.

Employers and students requiring information about the Nova Scotia Employment Program for Students can check the Internet at www.gov.ns.ca/ecor/ced/pep/nseps/ .