The Good Jobs Summit is going to be an exciting opportunity to discuss real solutions to long-term underemployment and the growth of precarious work – and create a shared action plan for the future. If you can’t make it in person, you can tune in from your computer or handheld device.

This is the last week to enter the Good Jobs Video Contest! The contest will close on September 26, 2014 at 9 a.m. Don’t let the time crunch discourage you. Our jury will be judging content and creativity, not video production.

Not from the Toronto area? Not a problem! We've extended the region for the community portion of this contest to all of Canada - and the deadline has been extended as well!

Is a good job important to you? If you are a student (high school/college/University/apprenticeship) or  youth (under the age of 25) living in Canada, put together a short video and you could win $500!

Adding to the growing list of influential speakers, Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne will be addressing the upcoming Good Jobs Summit on October 4 at Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly Maple Leaf Gardens).

“We’re committed to ensuring that Ontario is North America’s leader for talent, skills and training. Smart investments and strategic partnerships will encourage good, well-paying jobs. We will continue to invest in people because that’s our competitive edge and that’s what will grow our economy. Thank you to the organizers for assembling this impressive forum – I look forward to the discussion,” said Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Today’s unemployment numbers demonstrated that students, recent graduates and young workers are being utterly left behind in the Canadian economy, said Unifor National President Jerry Dias and Canadian Federation of Students National Chairperson Jessica McCormick.

This past month, employment among young workers and students fell by a whopping 20,000 jobs, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, released this morning.

“Over the summer, the unemployment rate for young workers (15-24) stayed stubbornly high, as it has been since the recession.  This is the very time that it should be easier for young people to find jobs – the jobs that they need to be able to go to school in September,” said Dias. “Whatever recovery has happened entirely bypassed young people.”

“Nearly half a million students have returned to school this fall after not being able to find summer employment and are facing an unstable future after graduation,” said McCormick. “A good job has never been harder to find, and students will take actions to change that.” 

What does a good job look like to you? 

The Good Jobs Summit, taking place on October 3-5 in Toronto, will explore this question. The summit will be a national dialogue between workers, students, governments, employers and community organizations, placing particular importance on young workers, the challenges you face in the workplace and potential solutions in creating opportunities.

The Good Jobs Summit made its official debut with a multi-generational panel on the state of work, and ideas to improve the jobs market, on August 22.

Is a good job important to you? If you are a student in the Toronto area, put together a short video and you could win $500!

Legislation indexing the minimum wage to inflation and protects against wage theft has been re-introduced by the Ontario government.

Good Jobs Summit brings together students, university, unions and academics to hold national conversation about job creation solutions