Young adult Manitobans select unemployment as top worry: Angus Reid

There are a few hurdles between Roquen Courchene and employment: no driver’s licence, a patchwork schedule with university. And, in the summer, the highest unemployment rate Canadian young adults have seen since the 1990s (outside the COVID-19 pandemic).

“All of my friends have jobs, but I think they applied when they were a bit younger,” said Courchene, 18. “Since I didn’t get a job when I was younger, I’m having a hard time finding one now.”

Across Canada, the Angus Reid Institute has tracked a growing number of young adults placing jobs and unemployment as their top concern.

Thirty-seven per cent of roughly 210 18- to 24-year-olds put unemployment as their top pick in a recent survey — more than doubling those labelling it a main concern in December.

Courchene, a University of Winni