High schools fast-track students into trades amid youth job crisis

Canadian youth are struggling to find work. Data from Indeed shows a 22 percent drop in summer job postings, and people between 15 and 24 have Canada's highest unemployment rate at 14.3 percent as of April 2026.

High schools around Edmonton are pivoting. Programs like the Educational Partnership Foundation offer trades-centric training designed to send high school students straight into apprenticeships rather than four-year degrees.

At Thursday's graduation ceremony for program participants, representatives from participating school boards and investors talked strategy. "This program is wonderful," said Graeme Dowdell, program co-ordinator with Edmonton Public Schools' Career Pathways team. "It gives our students lots of opportunities to try out things they maybe wouldn't otherwise have access to. They get to work with mentors they normally wouldn't."

The timing aligns with Alberta's $338 million provincial investment in skilled trades. Jay Stewart, trustee of the Workforce Development Trust — the foundation's main outside investor — argued that young people need to see trades as an option early. "Faster employment and less debt," he said, "without post-secondary schooling."

Stewart also noted that an aging workforce will soon retire, creating openings. But he acknowledged the current market is slow. "There's a lull in the construction industry," he said. "Big slowdown in oil, heavy industrial stuff."

With Canada in technical recession, schools believe new skills training is how they lift young people up. The message is clear: trades offer a faster path to stability than the traditional route.