Youth unemployment is highest since 2012. What will it take to fix it? – National [Video]

A new report is warning youth unemployment has reached a “troubling” high, hitting a level not seen since 2012, and it could cost the Canadian economy billions in the next decade.

The report by Deloitte, commissioned by The King’s Trust Canada, a national youth charity founded by King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales, noted youth unemployment hit 14.5 per cent in August — the highest since 2012.

Failure to address the issue could cost the country $18.5 billion in real GDP growth by 2024, it found.

“The report is troubling on several levels,” Farah Mohamed, CEO of the King’s Trust Canada, said in an interview. “What it comes down to is I think we really have to understand that if we do not invest in young people, if we do not create pathways to employment, how is this country going to be competitive, how are we going to be productive?”