The annual Canadian Museums Day on Parliament Hill will take place Nov. 18 and this year, museum professionals are lobbying for an increased investment of $5 million per year in the Young Canada Works program, creating nearly 1,000 new jobs and internships for students.
Stephen Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada, made reference at a press conference in Toronto to the 200,000 young people currently out of work, many of whom he suspects to be living in their parent’s basement. He has a different idea about how to solve the unemployment problem.
“If your parents are letting you live in the basement, you might as well go out and do something for free, to put the experience on your CV,” said Poloz.
Audrey Vermette, director of programs and public affairs at the CMA and organizer of the Museums Day event, says the Young Canada Works program that could help employ some of those young people, is in high demand.
“We have to refuse so many people every year because there’s just not enough money.”
“This is where museums need that help. Every summer they hire summer students and they hire recent graduates to help them temporarily with their work. It’s a very valued and important program to museums, but because we have to refuse so many requests every year, there are museums that can’t take advantage of that program.”
Robin Etherington, executive director of the Bytown Museum, has used the Young Canada Works program as an employer and is an avid supporter of this year’s lobbying effort on the Hill.
“Well, it’s a vital, vital program on many fronts,” says Etherington.
“The most important one, is it truly affords young professionals an opportunity to get professional experience in museums over the summer. It has truly launched many young museological careers.”
Etherington says the current rejection rate for the Young Canada Works program is about 50 per cent, but the Bytown Museum has been able to have summer students employed for the past three years. The Young Canada Works program pays about 50 to 70 per cent of the summer student’s salary.
Etherington stressed that the funding they are asking for is not “charity.” She says museums and other creative industries, contribute $17 billion to the economy annually.
Museums may need financial assistance from the government, but Etherington says “in turn, museums contribute to the communities economy and well being. It’s a win-win situation.”