Mayoral candidate Olivia Chow says she would combat youth unemployment by requiring companies involved in government infrastructure projects to hire Toronto residents under the age of 24.

All capital projects that cost $50 million or more would include “community benefits” provisions that would guarantee apprenticeships and jobs for young people who live within city limits, Chow said at an announcement Tuesday near the desolate former Kodak lands in low-income Weston-Mount Dennis.

“When elected as a new mayor, I plan to create 5,000 jobs and apprenticeships through the community benefits agreements,” Chow said.

“It’s a win-win situation,” she said. “For the private sector, it helps them rejuvenate their workforce. It creates hope for young people. It creates better neighbourhoods, better economy.”

The unemployment rate for residents between the ages of 16 and 24 was 22.5 per cent as of February. Incumbent Rob Ford told the CBC in March that the 22.5 per cent figure is “fictitious.”

The city has previously used “social procurement” for specific projects, and a council policy adopted last year advocates local-employment provisions. But Chow’s proposal would represent a substantial change: the government has never before made local hiring a standard part of its infrastructure tenders.

Toronto Community Housing required the winning vendor for the redevelopment of Regent Park to hire qualified neighbourhood residents; more than 500 locals have been employed through the initiative. The aborted Woodbine Live project in Rexdale, which Ford strongly supported, also included a plan for “priority hiring of local residents.”

Chow argued that her 5,000 figure is “very modest” given the Regent Park experience and the city’s $18.6 billion 10-year capital plan.

Canada’s internal trade agreement generally discourages geographic preferences, and it prohibits city governments from requiring contractors to use “workers, materials or suppliers of materials” from their own province.

But such discrimination is permitted when it is aimed at a “legitimate objective.” The Regent Park policy did not face a legal challenge.

“An assessment of whether the proposed measure would violate the city’s trade treaty obligations would require a detailed review and analysis of the precise language of the proposed policy and the context in which it is intended to operate,” said Marilyn Brown, senior legal counsel at the Procurement Law Office.

Candidate John Tory is making a youth unemployment announcement on Wednesday.

Chow mocked Tory last week and again on Tuesday for saying he will create opportunities for young people by tapping into his own business network. She said last week: “He’s just going to make some phone calls and it’s going to happen?”

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Her Tuesday plan said she will “approach our city’s business community” to ask them to “match the city’s efforts.” Chow said her proposed interactions with business would be different than Tory’s because they are attached to a “very specific proposal” while his are not. Tory’s campaign suggested Chow is proposing the same thing he did.

“We're happy to see Olivia Chow is finally acknowledging the validity of John's plan to work with the business community by including it in her announcement today. However, I am curious how Olivia Chow plans to reach out to businesses, as she's made it abundantly clear she won’t use the phone. Perhaps she'll try smoke signals or carrier pigeons?" said campaign spokeswoman Amanda Galbraith.

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