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So, too, did Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario, while provinces such as New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador received double to triple the national average.

“We were surprised. It was a head-scratcher,” said Murrell.

“Alberta’s being shortchanged by the program and there’s stark differences there.”

In 2018, Alberta received $530 per unemployed student, the lowest of any province that the study took into account. It omitted analysis of the three northern territories as labour force data was not available.

For every 1,000 unemployed students, the Canada Summer Jobs program subsidized 171 jobs in Alberta, which was also the fewest of the 10 provinces.

From 2016 to 2018, Alberta averaged $540 per unemployed student in federal funding from the program, and 163 subsidized jobs per 1,000 students unemployed.

Both figures were lower than the federal average of $812 per unemployed student and 276 subsidized jobs, respectively.

“The bureaucrats — Employment Canada — are not aware of, or are not taking into consideration . . . the hard times in terms of job opportunities in Alberta,” said Murrell.

“The program is to create jobs for students but they’re not quite aware of the problems students have in Alberta. The unemployment rate for young people has gone up the last three years whereas it’s gone down nearly everywhere else in Canada.”

The Canada Summer Jobs program provides wage subsidies for non-profit groups and small businesses to create summer jobs for youth.