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2.1 Program Objectives The objectives of the Summer Career Placements Program are to:
2.2 Employer Profile 2.2.1 Sector More than half (51.6%) of the employers using the SCP came from the non-profit sector. Another third (31.0%) came from the private sector while the remaining fifth (17.4%) came from the public sector 4. As Table 1 shows, non-profit employers were split about equally between community (29.2%) and cultural (22.4%). More than a third (35.5%) of the private sector employers were in retail and wholesale sales. Primary industries, manufacturing and services to business each accounted for another tenth of the private sector employers. Proportionately more employers came from the private sector in all of the Atlantic provinces (ranging from a high of 52.0% in Newfoundland to a low of 36.0% in Prince Edward Island) and Saskatchewan (37.1%). The bulk of these employers were in retail and wholesale sales and in hotels and restaurants. British Columbia (68.8%) and Ontario (60.2%) tended to rely more heavily on non-profit employers, while Saskatchewan was the heaviest user of the public sector (30.0%). Employer distributions in Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta generally mirrored the national distribution.
2.2.2 Size Employers surveyed were generally small — 36.2% had four or fewer employees, while another 28.4% had five to ten employees. Almost a quarter (23.2%) of the employers had 11 to 50 employees while less than a tenth (9.0%) had more than 50 employees. Not surprisingly, the public sector tended to have proportionately more large employers (See Table 2). Almost half the employers in each province in Atlantic Canada were small (four or fewer employees) compared to about a third in each of the other provinces. This is consistent with the fact that the Atlantic provinces had relatively more employers from the private sector. 2.2.3 Summer Work Load Almost two-thirds (63.4%) of the employers in the survey stated that, generally speaking, their organization's work load in the summer is higher than at other times of the year. For a quarter (24.5%) it is about the same, while for a tenth (11.4%) it is lower.
Proportionately more employers in Quebec (15.6%), British Columbia (15.6%) and Ontario (13.8%) are likely to report a lower work load in the summer than at other times of the year. 2.2.4 Student Employment Almost two-thirds (62.7%) of the employers surveyed hired just one student under the SCP this summer. Another fifth (21.3%) hired two students under the program while a tenth (10.5%) hired three or four. Of the remaining 5.4%, almost half (2.5%) employed five or six students. The three largest employers in the survey hired 28, 40 and 42 students. Prince Edward Island (88.0%) and Saskatchewan (85.7%) had the largest proportion of employers who hire one student through SCP while Newfoundland (54.0%), Quebec (56.1%) and Ontario (58.2%) had the least. As Table 3 shows, the private sector (76.9%) had proportionately more employers who hired only one student through SCP than either the public (56.6%) or the non-profit sectors (56.3%). On average, employers in the survey hired about two students (1.963) per agreement. The average number of students over the last four summers ranged from a high of 1.83 in 1994 to a low of 1.61 in 1995.
As mentioned above, 62.7% of all employers surveyed hired only one SCP student. In 82.6% of these cases, it is the only student they hired. This means that 51.8% of all surveyed employers hired no additional student. Of the remainder, 15.7% hired one other student, 9.2% hired two other students, 9.7% hired three or four others and 4.2% hired five or six other students. Another 8.2% hired seven or more others while the remaining 1.2% did not know how many others their firm hired. While Newfoundland had the lowest proportion of "one-SCP student" employers (54.0%), for most of them (70.0%), the SCP student was the only student they hired. This was the highest provincial proportion. Alberta had the lowest proportion (30.1%) of employers who hired only one student — the SCP student. Of those employers who hired additional students this summer about two-thirds (64.9%) received financial assistance for at least one of the students hired. About a third (33.6%) received assistance for one, 13.6% for two, 9.2% for three or four, 4.4% for five or six students and 4.1% for seven or more (one claiming 25 other students were subsidized). Almost one-third (33.5%) received no financial assistance. Employers in New Brunswick (76.3%) were most likely to have received financial assistance for at least one of the additional students hired. Employers in Saskatchewan (34.5%) were the least likely. 2.2.5 Financial Assistance Employers in the survey report hiring a total of 4,128 students, almost half (47.6%) of whom were subsidized by SCP. Of the 2,165 students not hired through the SCP, more than a third (34.7%) were subsidized in some other way. In total, then, almost two-thirds of all the students hired by employers in the survey were subsidized by some level of government. 2.2.6 Previous Summer Almost one-fifth (20.1%) of the employers in the survey did not hire any students in the summer of 1995. Of the remainder, one-quarter (27.2%) hired one student last summer, 17.6% hired two students, 15.3% hired three or four and 5.3% hired five or six students. Almost a tenth (9.3%) hired seven or more students last summer. Employers in New Brunswick (83.9%) were the most likely to have hired at least one student last summer. Employers in Manitoba (62.7%), Ontario (70.4%) and British Columbia (67.7%) were the least likely. Of those employers who hired students in the summer of 1995 the vast majority (82.0%) received financial assistance for at least one of the students hired. Employers in Alberta (88.4%) were the most likely to have received financial assistance, while employers in New Brunswick (75.4%) were the least likely. In the summer of 1995, these employers reported hiring 3,088 students of whom almost half (48.3%) were subsidized by some level of government. 2.3 Participant Profile 2.3.1 Age and Gender Almost two-thirds (65.9%) of the participants surveyed are female compared to one-third (34.1%) male. Ontario (72.3%) had the highest proportion of females, while Saskatchewan (53.8%) had the lowest. Almost half (46.6%) of the participants are aged 20 to 24 years of age. A little more than two-fifths (41.2%) are between 15 and 19 years of age while the remaining 12.0% are more than 24 years of age. (See Table 4.) Proportionately, Prince Edward Island (66.0%) and Newfoundland (56.0%) employed the most young (i.e., aged 15 to 19) students, while Ontario (33.7%) and Quebec (37.6%) employed the least.
Female participants tended to be both "younger" (i.e., aged 15 to 19) and "older" (i.e., aged 25 or older) than their male counterparts, while there were more male participants than female in the age category 20 to 24. (See Table 4.) 2.3.2 Equity Group Status Some 4.2% of participants have disabilities. About 6.4% are aboriginal and 6.7% are members of a visible minority. Aboriginals and visible minorities tended to be concentrated in Western Canada. 2.3.3 Sector Almost half (44.3%) of SCP participants surveyed worked for non-profit organizations during the summer of 1996, while slightly less than a third (29.6%) worked in the private sector and about a fifth (21.2%) worked in the public sector. As Table 5 shows, the distribution of surveyed employers and participants by sector is fairly consistent. Proportionately, Ontario (62.4%) and British Columbia (58.4%) had the most participants who worked for non-profit organizations during the summer of 1996, while Saskatchewan (57.7%) had the most participants who worked for the private sector and Quebec (21.8%) had the most participants who worked for the public sector.
As Table 6 below shows, the dominance of females among SCP participants is associated with the bulk of the employment being in the not-for-profit (which employs 73.2% females) and public (which employs 80.5% females) sectors. By way of contrast, the private sector tends to be more balanced (53.5% males versus 46.5% females).
As Table 7 shows, the not-for-profit sector tends to favour older students (68.6% are aged 20 or over) compared to the private (53.5%) and public (52.8%) sectors.
2.3.4 September 1995 Some 71.0% of participants reported attending a post-secondary institution in September 1995 compared to 25.6% who attended high school. About 3.3% of the participants did neither.5 Proportionately, Prince Edward Island (50.0%) and Saskatchewan (34.6%) employed the most high schools students, while Quebec (18.8%) and Nova Scotia (18.9%) employed the least. (Note: Although in Quebec, the school system is such that students could finish high school and enter the post-secondary level at an earlier age than students elsewhere in Canada, the data shows that most post-secondary students in Quebec (54.7%) fall in the age group 20 to 24, which is similar to the rest of Canada.) As Table 8 shows, the non-profit sector (78.5%) employed proportionately more post-secondary students than did the private (69.7%) and public (67.4%) sectors. The higher proportion of post-secondary students in the non-profit sector may reflect the nature of the work and the need for more mature students. As Table 9 indicates, post-secondary students tend to be older (78.7% are aged 20 and older).
2.3.5 Education Plans More than nine in ten (92.4%) SCP participants plan to continue their education in the Fall of 1996. This proportion ranges from a high of 98.1% in Nova Scotia to a low of 87.1% in British Columbia Of those returning to school, 90.5% will be full time while 9.5% will be part-time. Of those not planning to return to school, about half (48.4%) will be looking for work while almost the same proportion (47.9%) will be working. Of those who will be working, a little more than half will continue to work for their summer employer while the remainder will work at another job. 2.3.5.1 Post-Secondary Reflecting graduation from high school, the proportion of SCP participants planning to attend a post-secondary institution in September 1996 is significantly higher (81.6%) than the proportion who attended a post-secondary institution in September 1995 (71.0%). Proportionately, Quebec (91.7%) has the most participants returning to post-secondary studies, while Prince Edward Island (60.9%) has the least. Of those going to a post-secondary institution in September 1996, more than two-thirds (69.8%) will be going to university, while another one in five (24.2%) will be going to a community college or CEGEP. Almost all (84.1%) of those going to university will be undergraduates. Nova Scotia (22.2%) will have the most graduates, while Newfoundland (3.7%) will have the least. Almost one-third (31.0%) of those going to a post-secondary institution will complete their current degree or diploma in one year, while most of the rest expect to take two (24.7%) or three (22.1%) years. About one in five (21.5%) expect to take four years or more. More than half (50.3%) of the students going to a post-secondary institution intend to continue their education after they complete their current degree or diploma (ranging from a high of 61.5% in Newfoundland, to a low of 37.5% in Quebec), while one-quarter (24.4%) do not. Another quarter (25.3%) are unsure. 2.3.5.2 High School6 The vast majority of those going to high school in September 1996 will be entering either grade 12 (62.1%) or 13 (13.7%). Most of the rest will be entering grade 11 (17.0%). Only a handful will be entering grade 10 (5.8%) or 9 (1.4%). Almost all (91.0%) of those going to high school intend to go to a post-secondary institution. Of those, slightly more (44.0%) expect to attend a community college than a university (40.5%). 2.3.6 Field of Study For students going to a post-secondary institution in September 1996, the predominant fields of study are social sciences (14.2%), business and commerce (13.0%) and education (10.7%). Other significant fields include agriculture or biology (8.2%), health professions (6.1%), fine or applied arts (5.7%), computer sciences (4.7%), engineering (4.4%), architecture (4.1%), social work (4.1%) and mathematics or physics (3.6%). High school students also chose social sciences (17.8%) as the predominant field of study, followed by law (10.7%), health professions (8.8%) and agriculture or biological sciences (8.2%). 2.4 Program Expenditures 2.4.1 Provincial Expenditure Profile The provincial allocation for program funding is based on the returning student rate, its relation to the national student unemployment rate of 9.5%, and the provincial capacity to create student summer employment. Historical provincial budgetary allocations, as indicated by a review of administrative data, for the years 1989-1996 are outlined in Table 10 below. (Note: The figures for 1985-1988 were not on file.)  View Table 10: Historical Provincial Budgetary Allocations The budget allocation procedure is as follows7:
2.4.2 Program Expenditures Table 11 describes the program expenditures, including the number of participants, the number of projects and the cost per job, during the period 1985-1996. For 1996, the cost per job was over 6% lower than the average for the last 10 years. The actual cost per job was also lower than for 6 of the last 10 years. The 1996 Federal Budget announced that funding for summer jobs would be doubled. This created the impression that funding for the SCP program would be increased from $60 million in the summer of 1995 to $120 million in the summer of 1996. In fact, funding for the SCP program increased by only $30 million. The other $30 million was split equally amongst three other departments — Heritage Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Industry Canada. This caused considerable confusion amongst program stakeholders. View Table 11: Program Expenditures 1985-19868
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