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![\"Ruth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4073309_web1_240522-RAY-Gazan-MP-1-.jpg\")
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Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press Files<\/p>\n
MP Leah Gazan speaks about funding at a 2024 press conference at Resource Assistance for Youth. Federal funding is set to run out for the centre\u2019s Level Up! program.<\/p>\n
The paid training program involves six weeks of in-class learning and 12 weeks of work experience with a local employer. Participants also receive housing and mental-health and other supports.<\/p>\n
Case workers help graduates secure regular employment after the program, which has multiple cohorts per year.<\/p>\n
Three staff members \u2014 an instructor and two case managers \u2014 are at risk of being laid off if funding isn\u2019t renewed, Sjoberg said.<\/p>\n
West Broadway-based RaY approached the federal and provincial governments months ago to begin discussions about funding for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which begins April 1.<\/p>\n
Initially funded through a multi-year agreement with the federal Liberal government, Level Up! was forced to temporarily close and give up its dedicated location on King Street after that support ended in 2024.<\/p>\n
Sjoberg said the program returned with just under $600,000 in federal funding in the current fiscal year, following advocacy and help from Liberal MP Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre) and NDP MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre).<\/p>\n
RaY then partnered with The Link, formerly Macdonald Youth Services, which provided classroom and office space, although the program\u2019s capacity was reduced to 12 people per cohort.<\/p>\n
Level Up! had 63 participants in 2025-26. Since its inception, the program received almost three times as many applicants than it had available spaces.<\/p>\n
The aim is to help young people who face barriers to training or employment. Some joined Level Up! after being in the child-welfare system or incarcerated. Some participants are neurodiverse.<\/p>\n
Sjoberg said the program helps to prevent homelessness, reduce the reliance on employment and income assistance, and curb youth unemployment.<\/p>\n
Manitoba\u2019s youth unemployment rate (among people aged 15 to 24) was 12.4 per cent in February, which was unchanged from the same month in 2025 and below the national rate of 14.1 per cent.<\/p>\n
The Manitoba government\u2019s strategy to end chronic homelessness found that \u201cpipelines\u201d to homelessness include experience as a youth in care or having been incarcerated, Sjoberg said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very concretely preventative program that works,\u201d she said of Level Up!<\/p>\n
She described it as a \u201cWinnipeg success story,\u201d with hundreds of businesses and organizations providing work experience.<\/p>\n
Recent work experience has ranged from inner-city street outreach and transitional housing services to warehouses and grocery stores.<\/p>\n
The Free Press sought an explanation from Employment and Social Development Canada on Thursday afternoon as to whether Ottawa will renew the program\u2019s funding. The department had not yet commented as of 7 p.m. Friday.<\/p>\n
Carr said he can\u2019t speak to the internal decision-making process at the department level because it\u2019s arm\u2019s length.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fully supportive of the initiative, was proud to have successfully advocated for it in the past and have continued bringing the work RaY undertakes to the attention of my colleagues in Ottawa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gazan said she spoke to Sjoberg on Wednesday and sent letters to federal ministers and local Liberal MPs Thursday to call on Ottawa to fund a program with proven results.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a life-and-death program. It\u2019s working with many young people who have fallen through the cracks,\u201d Gazan said. \u201dWe talk about youth unemployment in the country, we talk about mental health, we talk about addictions, and then the (federal) government callously has cut these kinds of programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
RaY is based in Gazan\u2019s constituency, which had the highest child-poverty rate (41.1 per cent) of any urban centre in Canada in 2022, based on tax filings.<\/p>\n
Jamie Moses, the provincial NDP government\u2019s minister responsible for job creation, noted RaY\u2019s work to help young people build skills and find stability.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnding federal funding for a program that is delivering real results is deeply disappointing,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThis decision creates uncertainty for young people who are doing everything right and for the organizations supporting them.\u201d<\/p>\n
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Chris Kitching Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
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