20-year-old Finley Prevost finally scooped up a job at a cafe after a long search for employment. “I couldn’t get hired anywhere. I have six years experience in restaurants and nowhere would hire me,” she says. “It’s incredibly hard to get a job here. “ She says her roommate is still looking for work. Just a couple examples of labour market conditions worsening for young Canadians. The national unemployment rate for 15 to 24-year-olds rose to 14.1 per cent in February, up from 13.3 per cent at the end of 2025, according to Statistics Canada. Natasha Chestnut is executive director with the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia. She says the food sector is still a viable source of employment for young people. “Our industry, in particular, youth play a really critical role,” says Chestnut. “For a lot of youth, this is their first time job in our industry. And we employ 16 per cent of the province’s youth between the ages of 15 to 24. And even if you look at our workforce for our industry, over 40 per cent is youth between the ages of 15 to 24.” She adds restaurants are mostly seeing labour shortages for line cooks and chefs. But that by summertime, finding work shouldn’t be as hard. “We’re coming onto tourism season. This is the busiest time of year. Businesses are trying to ramp up their staffing… so we do anticipate we’ll see a bit of a boost of youth in the industry throughout the summer.” Meanwhile, Prevost hopes there won’t be more job seekers than jobs available for much longer. “It’s stressful, especially where rent is also so expensive. I work full-time and I can barely make rent. And so, if I want a second job, I just can’t. I just have to make do with what I have,” she says.
