Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) Program

Overview

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) helps youth aged 15 to 30, particularly those facing barriers to employment, make a successful transition into the labour market. The YESS is a horizontal initiative delivered collaboratively by 12 federal departments, agencies, and crown corporations to support Canada's youth to gain the skills and experience they need to find high-quality jobs, while also addressing labour and skills shortages in key sectors.

Parks Canada's YESS program is the only one from the 12 participating federal entities that uses the funding to hire youth directly rather than solely through grants & contributions programs. The program provides participants with valuable work experience and allows Parks Canada to hire more youth, identify and retain those with great potential, and build a more inclusive and diverse workplace.

Participant Form

All YESS-funded employees (“participants”) must submit a YESS form at the beginning of their employment as well as for each subsequent fiscal year that they are YESS-funded.

The YESS form is completed online via GC Forms, which is mobile friendly, bilingual, and Protected B. Questions on the YESS form are much more extensive and personal than the standard self-declaration process, and the information collected (apart from age and residency status) is confidential and will not be used to determine the employee's eligibility for the program.

Surveys

Information about whether the YESS Program is meeting its goal of helping youth gain the skills and experience to support their long-term employment is collected through two end-of-season surveys. The framework for these surveys comes from the YESS Logic Model developed by Employment and Social Development Canada. They ask questions on four topics:

• Skill development
• Career navigation
• Supports
• Post-program status

Participant survey (August)

• Sent directly to YESS participants at their preferred email address (as indicated in their YESS form or in PeopleSoft);
• Anonymous & optional, although participation is strongly encouraged;
• Notification emails will also be sent to HR and to the youth's supervisors (as listed in PeopleSoft).

Supervisor survey (September)

• Sent directly to the youth's supervisors (as indicated in PeopleSoft)
• Notification emails will also be sent to HR.

Contact information

If you have any questions or comments related to Parks Canada’s YESS Program, please contact us at jeunesse-youth@pc.gc.ca.

Resources

• Promotional posters