PROGRAM

The Summer Work Student Exchange Program is a program which offers youth, 16 and 17 years of age, the quintessential Canadian experience. Participants will have the opportunity to gain paid work experience, practice their 2nd official language skills, discover another community within Canada and develop personally. The program runs for six weeks in the summer, beginning in early July and ending mid August. Each participant will be provided with a work placement where they will be assigned an employment mentor. During the program duration, participants stay with a host / host family and, in most cases, whenever possible, a participant stays in their home as well. We do our best to find each student a job close to their homestay. Participants are grouped together (up to 10 youth per community) and collaborate with their local coordinator to organize an agenda of activities to better know their new community and each other. The youth are supported by our local coordinators, all post - secondary students, who are trained to help them navigate their way through this great journey.

ABOUT US

History, mission & objectives, work with us, contacts

HISTORY

(1996) The Honourable Denis Paradis, MP, initiates an exchange involving 36 youth.

(1998) Canadian Unity Council assumed leadership of the program - 342 youth participate

(1999) Fax Machine was the main way of transferring and sharing information

(2000) Extranet System is created, allowing the program to be managed from any physical location

(2001) More than 900 youth go on exchange that summer.

(2006) SWSE celebrates its 10th anniversary.

(2007) The program is temporarily cancelled.

(2007) The YMCA of Greater Toronto is awarded the contract to deliver the program!

(2008) The SWSE program incorporates Support Coordinators, thereby increasing field support & more than 600 youth participate.

(2009) Our field staff are trained in Healthy Adolescent Development and the scope of the program evolves to include an experiential education approach.

(2010) Ready to serve over 900 youth, in 119 communities across Canada, we're gearing up for our best year ever!

Want to learn more about the YMCA - History and Movement?

MISSION & OBJECTIVES

Our Mission
The YMCA is a charity offering opportunities for personal growth, community involvement, and leadership.

Vision
The YMCA focuses on making connections: connecting people, connecting with youth, and connecting with the community.

Our Values
The YMCA is guided by certain values that inform the way we act and the decisions we make:

  • Caring - we act with compassion and concern for the well-being of others
  • Health - we are committed to physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development
  • Honesty - we demonstrate integrity and trustworthiness
  • Inclusiveness - we appreciate diversity, strive to be open to all, and seek to understand differences and find common ground
  • Respect - we recognize and protect the inherent worth of every person, including oneself
  • Responsibility - we are dependable and accountable for choices, actions, and commitments

Objectives of the Summer Work Student Exchange

This program is an excellent opportunity for students to grow, build new skills, learn more about themselves, their community, their country and others. This program will contribute to the following main objectives and outcomes that are part of all Exchanges Canada programs:

  • To contribute to increased knowledge and understanding of Canada among Canadian youth, by enabling them to learn first-hand about the history, geography, industry, institutions, cultures, communities, languages and other facets of Canada.
  • To help young Canadians connect to one another and create lasting linkages, across the country and between groups, thereby helping to strengthen the fabric of Canadian society.
  • To develop Canadian identity and a sense of belonging to Canada among Canadian youth by enhancing their appreciation of both the diversity and the shared aspects of the Canadian experience.

The program will also achieve the following specific program objectives:

  • To better prepare participants for the workforce through job experience, employer mentorship and industry awareness
  • To provide an opportunity for the participants to learn about and appreciate another culture.
  • To allow students the opportunity to practice their 2nd official language skills through homestay and work immersion
  • To enable youth to give back to the community through a group community project
  • To empower youth to take on new challenges and gain confidence and general preparedness for their future!
 Questions and Answers

Do I have to speak French?
You will be working in your second official language - French - for six weeks, from the beginning of July until mid-August - so it is important you have basic French language skills. As well, you will be staying with a French speaking host / host family so speaking some French will help you get the most of your homestay experience. Your language ability will greatly improve over the course of the program!


Who is eligible for the program?
If your community is participating in the program and you will be 16 or 17 years of age during the program (you must be at least 16 on July 5 and no older than 17 years of age on August 13), you are eligible.


What types of jobs are provided?
Employers are non-profit, public-sector and community organizations that set aside jobs for program participants. For example, you could be working as a junior monitor in a day camp or help organize a community program recreation centre. We make every attempt to find each student employment at a location near their homestay. Each work placement offers the participant a solid learning opportunity.


Is there a program fee?
Yes, there is a $50 non-refundable participant fee to secure your space once you have been selected. Your travel to your host community and home again is paid for by the Summer Work Student Exchange Program. You will stay with a host / host family and a student will stay in your home and work in your community. You are responsible, however, for your own expenses, just as you would be at home. Your group will take part in a range of activities throughout the program. The activities vary from one community to the next. Although all planned activities will be covered, a few optional activities may require participants' financial contribution. If you are unable to pay the $50 fee, please let us know. We do our best to ensure that every youth who wants to participate has the chance to do so.


Who sponsors the program?
The Summer Work Student Exchange program is administered by the YMCA of Greater Toronto and is sponsored by VIA RAIL Canada.

There is minimal cost to participants thanks to the Department of Canadian Heritage, which supports this program financially through Exchanges Canada.


I don't have a social insurance number. What should I do?
You must have a social insurance number (SIN) to work in Canada, and to participate in the program. For information on obtaining a number, go to: http://www.sdc.gc.ca/en/gateways/topics/sxn-gxr.shtml


What if my family is unable to host?
While the structure of our program is based upon reciprocal exchange, we are sometimes able to consider exceptions. We encourage students to look for an alternative host / host family (for example; an aunt and uncle, a neighbor, a teacher), if their family cannot host their exchange partner.


Does host family mean a 2 parent household?
No! We use the word family in a general sense. What is important is that each youth will be hosted by someone / people who are responsible and welcoming to the visiting student. The host / host family is excited to engage with the student in their home, provide a safe environment for their guest and provide meals (sharing some of those meal times each week with the participant). Single parents, extended family, guardians and interested hosts are welcome!