Increasing number of Canadians believe private sector obligated to help veterans find jobs: Survey

Eighty per cent of respondents feel federal government has highest obligation

Although still a minority, the number of Canadians who believe the private sector has the highest obligation to help veterans find jobs more than doubled from five per cent last year to 12 per cent in 2016, according to a national survey released by Commissionaires.

Commissionaires is the largest private sector employer of Canadian veterans.  Each year, it hires more than 1,000 veterans in its 15 divisions across the country to provide security services to clients in the private and public sectors.

“Finding a job after finishing their military service is difficult for veterans in this economic climate,” said Tom Prins, CEO of Commissionaires Great Lakes. “We try to help by hiring them, but clearly Canadians think more private sector employers should do the same thing.”

Men (15.3 per cent) are more likely than women (7.8 per cent) to consider the private sector as having the most important obligation to help veterans find jobs after leaving the military. Eighty per cent of respondents rank the federal government as having the highest obligation to ensure veterans find meaningful employment, found the survey of 1,000 Canadians.

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