Victoria is the ninth-best city in Canada for youth to work according to a report from Youthful Cities. It lands in the middle of a list of 21 cities total. (Shalu Mehta/News Staff)

Good news, youths.

Victoria ranked in the top 10 cities for people age 15 to 29 to work in Canada.

Youthful Cities, an organization aiming to lead urban regeneration towards youthfulness, ranked Victoria as the ninth-best city for young Canadians to work in its 2019 Urban Work Index survey.

Out of a possible 1,310 points that help evaluate affordability, education, employment and entrepreneurship, Victoria scored around 635.

According to the survey which looked at 21 different cities, Victoria has the second-lowest average student debt and the seventh-lowest tuition cost. It also has the best performance in year-over-year change in youth full-time jobs as a per cent of total jobs.

READ MORE: Victoria ranked third-best city in Canada to be a woman

The survey says: “Victoria excels as a place for youth to navigate the education to work transition.” It also boasts affordable education, better access to education and good work-integrated learning so youths can develop work-ready skills while studying.

Some areas that need improvement in Victoria are related to the cost of food, clothing and housing, placing Victoria in the middle of the 21 cities on the list.

The organization defines youths as 15 to 29-year-olds and says youths make up about 18 per cent of Victoria’s population.

In a statement from Youthful Cities co-founder Rober Barnard, he says Canadian youths will be the most educated ever but will also be the most indebted youth ever. He also says the youth unemployment rate is double the national average in Canada.

“Youth clearly want more affordable housing, less student debt, good jobs and cities that really support entrepreneurs,” Barnard said.

READ MORE: Canada sees second straight monthly employment surge with 55,900 net new jobs

Edmonton was ranked as the best city for urban work for youth, followed by Montreal and Ottawa.

Toronto came in one notch below Victoria at number 10 and Saskatoon, Halifax and Winnipeg made up the bottom three on the list.

Edmonton scored high when it came to affordability for food, housing, health, utilities, education and transportation. The survey also said Edmonton is a “great option for youth looking for an entrepreneurial environment.”

Overall, every region of Canada has at least one city on the list. Each city that was analyzed was chosen based on population, geographical representation within a region and local engagement.

The full Youthful Cities report can be found here.

shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com

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