More Canada Summer Jobs program projects were approved this year in ridings held by Liberal MPs than in Conservative- or NDP-represented ridings on average, according to an iPolitics analysis of government data.

As of April 18, five days before the earliest start date of jobs funded through the program, there were 24 per cent more projects approved for the summer in ridings represented by Liberal MPs than Conservative MPs, and 16 per cent more approvals in Liberal-represented ridings than ridings with NDP MPs.

The Canada Summer Jobs program is an initiative of Employment and Social Development Canada providing wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, and businesses with less than 50 employees. It helps the organizations hire young people between the ages of 15 and 30 during the summer.

The program provides up to $263 million in subsidies.

Ridings with Liberal MPs had an average of 110 approved programs, while ridings with NDP MPs averaged 95 approved projects, and Conservative-represented ridings had an average of 89 programs receiving the federal cash.

All four ridings where there were approvals for more than 300 programs are held by Liberal MPs. There are 18 ridings where more than 200 programs qualified for the subsidies. Seventeen of those ridings have Liberal MPs, while one is represented by an NDP MP.

Canada Summer Jobs funding is allocated by riding based on government data on how many youth are unemployed in the summer in each region.

MPs play a direct role in the review of projects in their constituencies. According to the department, MPs are invited to review the list of programs that are up to receive funding in their constituency and can recommend changes. Service Canada has the final say after MPs’ suggestions.

Data about the program from the department was tabled in the House of Commons last month. Employment and Social Development Canada said it received 39,933 applications for funding and approved 33,375, as of April 18. The department said that not all funding decisions had been finalized at that time.

Veronique Simard, a spokesperson for Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, said the number of approved projects doesn’t directly reflect how many jobs are subsidized through the program.

“For example, in (Canada Summer Jobs) 2018, approximately 35,500 projects were approved for funding, resulting in 70,083 jobs created. We are delighted that so many good quality summer jobs were provided to young Canadians last summer and hope that this season garners the same results,” Simard told iPolitics in a statement.

The Canada Summer Jobs program has been the subject of controversy before. Earlier this summer, The Canadian Press reported that the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms was taking the government to court because it had rejected a pair of Bible camps’ proposals for funding after restructuring the program to require applicants to show they don’t work against reproductive rights.

It was also reported last month, including by Global News, that a charity that had its licence revoked over concerns it may have funded militants in Pakistan had received a grant through the jobs program.

Asked about the differences between how many programs get cash in Liberal and NDP ridings compared to Conservative ridings, Conservative employment critic John Barlow said it’s “just another instance of Liberals helping themselves.”

“Justin Trudeau’s government has botched the Canada Summer Jobs program since Day 1. They put in place a ‘Liberal values’ attestation, gave funding to an organization linked to terrorism, bankrolled groups that are actively protesting Canada’s critical energy infrastructure, and are now prioritizing their own Liberal ridings,” Barlow said.

Barlow promised that, if elected, a Conservative government would “fix” the Canada Summer Jobs program. He didn’t say how Conservatives would change the program.

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