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Canada’s Youth Face Recession-Level Unemployment: 52% Fear Job Loss

Sep. 23, 2025

As the Bank of Canada gears up to cut interest rates, a different kind of concern is growing among young Canadians — job insecurity.

A new survey by the Angus Reid Institute reveals that 37% of Canadians aged 18 to 24 now rank “jobs and unemployment” as the most pressing national issue. That’s more than double the 18% who said the same last December, and up nine points from 28% in June.

This comes on the heels of one of the weakest summer job markets for youth since 2010 (excluding pandemic years). While June and July job losses mostly affected younger workers, the August unemployment spike hit the 25–54 age group.

Overall, 40% of Canadians worry that either they or a family member could lose their job due to economic conditions. This sentiment is highest among the youngest group (52% of 18–24 year-olds), but it cuts across all income levels.

Other key findings:

57% of Canadians say they’re struggling to keep up with rising living costs.
25% would not be able to handle an unexpected $250+ expense; 50% could manage $1,000 or more.
The share of Canadians who say their rent or mortgage is affordable rose to 66% — up 6 points from last year.
Concern about tariffs and Canada-U.S. relations has fallen from 41% in March to 18% today.

According to a parallel report from CIBC and CP24, youth unemployment is now at levels typically seen in recessions, pointing to deeper structural weaknesses in Canada’s labour market.