The federal government is spending nearly $150,000 to support youth employment initiatives in Greater Sudbury through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario.
On Monday, Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe announced $149,364 in FedNor spending to fund paid youth internship positions at three local organizations. The funding was announced on behalf of Patty Hajdu, the federal minister responsible for the agency.
The spending will support 18-month internship placements aimed at helping recent graduates gain work experience and encouraging them to remain in Northern Ontario.
Of the total amount, $57,500 will be provided to the Metro Centre Management Board Downtown Sudbury to hire a youth intern focused on event development, research, marketing, communications, and project management.
The position is intended to support efforts to attract visitors, increase downtown foot traffic, and strengthen Sudbury’s tourism and events sector.
Another $50,112 will go to the Afro Women and Youth Foundation to support the hiring of a bilingual program support intern. The role includes community outreach, content creation, social media management, volunteer recruitment, and the delivery of French-language services for year-round programs and workshops. The position is intended to increase participation from the Francophone community and improve service accessibility.
The remaining $41,752 will be allocated to Contact interculturel francophone de Sudbury to fund a youth intern position focused on inclusion, diversity, digital capacity building, and program development.
The intern will also be tasked with reviewing existing services and proposing new initiatives to better serve Francophone racial and ethnocultural minority communities in Greater Sudbury.
According to the federal government, the spending is intended to address youth out-migration in Northern Ontario by providing local employment opportunities. FedNor reports that since 2009 its Youth Internship Initiative has created approximately 764 internships across the region. Of those participants, 63% remained with their host employer, 83% moved into jobs related to their internship, and 91% indicated plans to continue working in Northern Ontario.
The spending is delivered through FedNor’s Economic Development Initiative and the Northern Ontario Development Program, which support projects aimed at economic diversification, job creation, and community development, including initiatives targeting official-language minority communities.
The funding also aligns with the federal government’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, which focuses on improving job readiness through work experience, training, and skills development.
