Youth Job Connection (Employment Ontario)

A free Employment Ontario program for young people who face serious barriers to getting a job. You get paid pre-employment training, help to find a job, paid job placements with support, a mentor, and help to move into school or work. You are paid the Ontario minimum wage for training hours, and employers must pay you at least minimum wage during a placement. A summer part helps high school students get summer, part-time and after-school jobs.

Program in Ontario-wide. Jobs & careers Teens & youth Students

When: No deadline. The program runs all year. In late 2025 Ontario released 2026-2027 business plan templates for this program to the agencies that deliver it. The summer part focuses on summer jobs, plus part-time and after-school jobs during the school year.

How to reach them

1. Call Employment Ontario and ask for a Youth Job Connection provider near you.
2. Say who you are and what you are offering or asking.
3. Come back here and tell us if they answered.

Other ways, if that one is quiet

• Live chat with Employment Ontario (Mon to Fri 8:30 am to 5 pm ET)Live chat with Employment Ontario (Mon to Fri 8:30 am to 5 pm ET)
  It workedNo answer

• EmailEmail contactEO@ontario.ca
  It workedNo answer

• PhoneCall 1-800-387-5656
  It workedNo answer

Where else they are

Their website is eopg.labour.gov.on.ca/.../youth-job-connection.

Good to know

• For whomYouth aged 15 to 29 who live in Ontario, are eligible to work in Canada, face several or complex barriers to work (for example poverty, homelessness, little work experience, low education, disability, mental health challenges or being a recent newcomer), and are not working or in full-time school or training. Youth aged 15 to 18 must be legally excused from attending high school. The summer part is for high school students aged 15 to 18 facing challenging life circumstances who plan to stay in school or go on to college or university.
• CostFree
• Their stepsCall Employment Ontario at 1-800-387-5656 or use live chat, and ask for a Youth Job Connection provider near you in Toronto. You can also go straight to a Youth Job Connection agency, or ask an Employment Ontario job centre, a community agency or your school board to refer you. Meet the agency to check if you qualify, then take part in the paid pre-employment training. Get matched to a paid job placement, with support and a mentor, and help to go back to school or into work.

We read all of this on their own website. If something has changed, tell us here. It takes 20 seconds, needs no account, and nothing is deleted: the old fact stays until a person checks yours.