ICOMOS Canada is delighted to release our 2023-24 Report on the Youth in Heritage (YIH) wage subsidy program, supported in partnership with Parks Canada under the Youth Employment Skills Strategy (YESS) from Employment and Social Development Canada.
YIH is an innovative wage subsidy program first launched in 2021-22, where ICOMOS Canada in partnership with Parks Canada were able to support 100 youth from across the country. In 2023-24 the program’s funding was unfortunately reduced, but we were still able to support the employment of 48 youth with 32 unique partner organisations – encouraging and inspiring youth from across the country to explore and pursue careers in heritage by connecting them with employment, mentorship, and apprenticeship opportunities across the country.
We are proud to announce that YIH continues to play an important role in supporting youth who face barriers to employment, with 83% of participants identifying as facing at least one barrier to employement, 46% of youth identifying as either Indigenous, racilaised, or as a person with a disability, and 49% of youth identifying as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
ICOMOS Canada is now actively working to expand and develop new partnerships to help grow the YIH program, with a goal of creating a training portal which will provide youth with access to content focused on career development and EDI in the heritage sector. With the 2024-25 program well under way, we look forward to another year of success supporting the next generation of heritage professionals in Canada!