CERIC announces funding recipients with focus on youth employment

CERIC has announced the recipients of its summer-fall 2025 project funding call. While the open call invited a wide range of research and learning proposals, the three selected projects are linked by a shared focus on strengthening career development approaches that respond to youth unemployment and employment precarity. Together, the funded initiatives examine how career development professionals can better engage youth who are disconnected from school, support young people navigating a rapidly changing labour market, and design more inclusive pathways into work through internships and coaching.

Pathways to Possibility: Resources and Practices for Engaging Opportunity Youth in Career Development

Led by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, Pathways to Possibility: Resources and Practices for Engaging Opportunity Youth in Career Development centres on youth who are disengaged from school and at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). The project will explore how career development professionals can more effectively reach this population and identify practices that support re-engagement.

The work will combine a literature review and environmental scan with a national survey of school guidance counsellors to examine barriers to engagement and highlight promising strategies. Findings are intended to provide practical insights and tools that can help practitioners better support opportunity youth and improve transitions toward education and employment.

Building the Job-Readiness Bridge: Spotlight on Career Coaching

Building the Job-Readiness Bridge: Spotlight on Career Coaching is being led by Workforce Synergy, a division of the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie. The project examines how career development practitioners can strengthen job-readiness supports for youth amid ongoing labour market disruption driven by factors such as automation, artificial intelligence and remote work.

Drawing on the perspectives of practitioners who work directly with young people, the initiative will explore knowledge gaps, emerging trends and opportunities to better align the roles of parents, educators, employers and service providers. The project aims to generate actionable insights and practical resources that support more co-ordinated and relevant career guidance for youth facing barriers to employment.

Nurturing Models for Youth-Focused Internships

Nurturing Models for Youth-Focused Internships, led by Future Black Female in partnership with Brock University, addresses gaps in how internships are designed and experienced by marginalized youth. While internships are often promoted as pathways to employment, the project responds to evidence that many models overlook social, emotional and identity-based factors that influence outcomes. 

Grounded in nurturing principles that emphasize belonging, well-being and relational safety, the project will co-design and pilot a structured internship model supported by training, tools and evaluation. The goal is to improve internship completion, confidence and transitions to employment while strengthening inclusive supervision practices among employers and career practitioners. 

CERIC supports the development of innovative research and learning resources that advance career counselling development in Canada. Funding opportunities are offered through twice yearly open calls, inviting proposals from across education, community-based and private sectors. Applications are reviewed by CERIC staff with recommendations from Advisory Committees, and final funding decisions approved by the CERIC Board. Information on CERIC’s funding approach, priorities and past projects can be found online.

The next call for project proposals will be open from March 2 to March 27, 2026. While the application portal is not yet open, full details on eligibility, requirements and guidance for prospective applicants are already available on CERIC’s website.