---
title: "Brad Bradford promises 15,000 jobs for Toronto youth under 30"
description: "Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford released a plan to create 15,000 full-time positions for people under 30 in Toronto, to be funded almost entirely by private companies."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/news/brad-bradford-youth-jobs-plan-october-17"
last_updated: "2026-10-17T21:35:40.328Z"
---

Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford released a plan on Saturday to create 15,000 full-time jobs for Torontonians under 30, with corporations paying almost all the cost, NOW Toronto reported.

Bradford's campaign said 10 to 15 Toronto company leaders have agreed in principle to take part. The city's contribution, according to his campaign, would be $750,000 a year for coordination. Corporations would fund nearly all the rest.

"Those commitments are going to be published publicly. We're gonna hold corporate Canada to account," Bradford said, according to NOW Toronto.

His campaign said 5,000 of the positions would come in the first year. Of the 15,000 total, 30 percent would go to youth facing the greatest barriers, though the campaign did not define that group further.

## What the numbers show

NOW Toronto reported that Toronto's unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 was 17 percent at some point earlier in 2026. Canada's rate for the same age group was 13 percent in September, and the overall national unemployment rate was 6.5 percent that month.

Bradford's campaign did not give a breakdown of which companies or industries would provide the jobs, or a timeline beyond the first year.

## What Chow has proposed

Incumbent Mayor [Olivia Chow](/on/toronto-2026/candidates/olivia-chow) has a separate plan focused on construction jobs tied to the Scarborough East LRT. Her campaign has said 20 percent of those jobs would go to local residents, with priority for young people, and 15 percent would go to apprentices aged 18 to 35.

Chow's plan is tied to one infrastructure project and does not set a total jobs target across the city.

## What voters can do

Voting day is Monday, October 26, 2026. Polls are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The City of Toronto has a tool to find your voting place. Candidates for mayor are listed at [/on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor](/on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor).

[Brad Bradford's candidate page](/on/toronto-2026/candidates/brad-bradford) has links to his official sources.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/toronto-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.