Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ)

• Signed attestation and authorized representative signature(s) on the Canada Summer Jobs Application/Agreement form
• Completed application form (submitted via GCOS, the online fillable form, or the PDF application form EMP5396A)

Who is eligible?

• Not-for-profit community, charitable, or voluntary organizations.
• Indigenous not-for-profit organizations.
• Unions and sector councils.
• Public community colleges, vocational schools, and public degree-granting universities.
• Municipal governments and agencies, including regional legislative bodies and departments.
• School boards and elementary and secondary institutions.
• Health and public educational institutions and libraries.
• Private sector entities with 50 or fewer full-time employees.
• Private health and educational institutions.

Who is not eligible

• Federal government departments and agencies.
• Provincial government departments and agencies.
• Members of the House of Commons and the Senate or their immediate family members.
• Organizations that engage in partisan political activities.
• Organizations that directly or indirectly infringe, undermine, weaken, or restrict legally protected human rights in Canada.

Eligible expenses

• Wage contribution for not-for-profit employers up to 100% of the provincial or territorial adult minimum hourly wage.
• Wage contribution for public and private sector employers up to 50% of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage.
• Mandatory Employment Related Costs (MERCs) for not-for-profit employers including Employment Insurance premiums, Canada or Quebec Pension Plan contributions, Vacation pay, and Workers’ Compensation premiums or equivalent liability insurance.
• Additional funding for overhead costs for accommodating youth with disabilities, such as personal tools, adaptations, and professional support services like visual language interpreters.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Job activities carried out outside Canada (including youth teleworking from outside Canada)
• Job activities that provide a personal service to the employer
• Partisan political activities
• Fundraising activities intended to cover the youth participant’s salary costs
• Job activities that discriminate, advocate intolerance/discrimination/prejudice, or actively work to undermine or restrict a woman’s access to sexual and reproductive health services

Eligible geographic areas

• All provinces and territories within Canada

• Service Canada screens submitted applications for eligibility; if information is missing or unclear, you may be emailed and given 5 business days to provide the requested details.
• Eligible applications are then assessed for quality against the program’s objectives and are scored and ranked within each constituency.
• A list of recommended projects is shared with the local Member of Parliament (MP), who may provide feedback based on local needs and priorities before funds are allocated.
• You will receive a funding decision by email (approved or not approved); funding confirmations begin in April 2026 and continue through the summer, and all decisions are final (no appeal process).
• If approved, Service Canada emails the “Calculation of Approved Canada Summer Jobs Contribution Amount” and the forms needed to complete the agreement, and the signed agreement must be in place before any activities can be reimbursed.

• Employers and participants funded through the program must complete feedback questionnaires as part of program follow-up.
• All CSJ-funded positions are automatically posted on Job Bank for increased visibility to youth job seekers.
• An employer's history with the program, such as past financial irregularities or project compliance, may affect future application eligibility.
• Successful applicants may be subject to inspections or audits as part of program monitoring.