The Youth to Postsecondary (Y2P) education project provides free academic upgrading and life skills training to young adults living in the Jane and Finch community. It helps participants transition into college and apprenticeship courses or the workforce, improving their career opportunities and future prosperity. 

In this priority neighbourhood:

• 62 per cent of residents are newcomers
• English is often a second language
• twenty-three per cent of people are considered low income
• youth struggle academically and some are at risk of being among the more than 40,000 who drop out of high school every year in Canada

Y2P students face many challenges outside of the classroom including precarious housing, unemployment, food insecurity, transportation and limited childcare. This funding helps offset costs allowing participants to focus on academic development.

Since Y2P launched in September 2015, 369 students have enrolled and 54 per cent have completed the program and continued academic upgrading courses. ​ 

When young people are left out of the workforce and the classroom, the long-term societal costs are astronomical. The collective lifetime revenue loss for each person without any postsecondary education over a 35-year period is $307 billion and lifetime private health-care costs total $623 billion, according to the Canadian Council on Learning.

With the help of generous donors such as the Peter Gilgan Foundation (2018-2024) and Daniel and Emma Michael (2016-2017), Y2P is giving a second chance to those young people who want to build a better future for themselves and their families.