National Highlights
Updates from the Past Year at Pathways Canada
Evolving our program for greater impact
Since the inception of the Pathways Program in Regent Park in 2001, much has changed. Foundational changes to urban planning, including gentrification and social housing dispersion, have altered the density of low-income households within communities. Coupled with changes in immigration, this has shifted community demographics and needs. More recently, the lingering effects of lockdowns and remote learning during the pandemic have significantly impacted youth, with research showing declines in standardized math, reading, and science scores and an increased demand for mental health and other supports.
In response, we are committed to evolving the Pathways Program and innovating delivery to best meet the needs of today’s youth through the introduction of a new Impact Plan designed to engage stakeholders locally and globally to contribute and ensure maximized impact.
As part of the Impact Plan, a comprehensive program review will help us understand students’ changing needs and identify opportunities to better address them. By examining research, best practices, and the experiences of students, alumni, and partners, we will pinpoint priority areas for new or enhanced programming and highlight successful local strategies that can be scaled. This will be done in collaboration with our 29 partners across the country.
Other components of the Impact Plan will focus on increasing our reach and effectiveness. For instance, a market analysis will provide a deep understanding of where and how much growth is possible for the Pathways Program, enabling us to build robust cases for funding to meet the needs of currently unreached youth. Additionally, an environmental scan will offer key learnings from large organizations worldwide on how they have increased their impact.
We will continue to prioritize youth and community voices and leadership in developing scalable, sustainable solutions as we strive to make a bigger impact in breaking the cycle of poverty in Canada.
Addressing Canada’s skills shortage
Both new and long-term trends in the workplace have led to increasing demand for advanced education or training in areas such as emerging technologies and the skilled trades, as well as a stronger emphasis on soft skills. Yet, youth living in the communities we serve often have limited access to mentors and networks to advance their professional growth. These barriers often reduce their likelihood of finishing high school and moving on to post-secondary education or training, further entrenching their economic disadvantage.
In response, we continued to deliver career readiness and employability programming to equip students with the required knowledge, training, and 21st-century skills to succeed beyond high school and contribute to a strong Canadian workforce. Youth across the country regularly participate in structured programming designed to expose them to new career paths and support them in obtaining the skills to succeed in the modern job market.
In addition, Pathways alumni have expressed the need for increased transition supports after high school. The youth we serve face many challenges that continue to limit their success beyond high school, and frontline staff have shared that alumni often return to the program for additional support after graduation. To address this challenge, we are exploring formalized post-secondary education transition supports as part of our comprehensive program review taking place this year.
In the meantime, we continue to engage alumni nationally to support their personal and professional success beyond high school. We’ve implemented a refreshed alumni engagement strategy to explore adaptations in how we reach Pathways graduates and support their long-term professional development. This includes facilitating local events, networking opportunities, and professional development activities to help alumni build social capital and develop employment networks to bolster their future success.
Fostering Community Connections
We know that young people flourish when they have access to meaningful relationships with caring adults, access to a safe space where they belong characterized by a culture of high expectations, and opportunities for meaningful participation and engagement. The facilities that young people have access to, including community centres, libraries, and playgrounds, are also critical to their positive development and future prospects.
The Pathways Program creates spaces of belonging in schools and communities for youth and further equips them with the confidence and competencies they need to overcome the barriers they face.
This past year, we’ve renewed our commitment to strengthening community connections by helping young people to connect with a broader support network and providing them with critical opportunities to build social capital.
In Montreal, Pathways Lachine, Pathways Pointe-Saint-Charles, and Pathways Verdun organized a combined graduation ceremony wherein students from each of these different program locations had the opportunity to connect over their achievements and shared experiences. The event allowed students to build peer relationships and find support through a community beyond high school.
We’ve also strengthened our Alumni Ambassador program, increasing the number of local ambassadors that support community and youth engagement efforts across the country. As Pathways alumni continue on their path to post-secondary education or training and to meaningful employment, they become mobilizers of positive change for the next generation of youth, creating a ripple effect toward stronger and healthier communities.
Impact fueled by technology, informed by data
Technology has always been a critical enabler of scale for our organization, allowing us to improve the quality of our supports, make program delivery more effective and accessible, and further our impact.
Over the past year, we have made significant strides in the development of a new, centralized data management platform that will streamline program delivery across 31 communities in Canada. The first version of the platform, which includes a portal to support program registrations, was launched to 11 program locations at the beginning of this year, with a national roll-out planned for FY26.
We are also executing a refreshed data governance framework to increase the velocity of information and embed predictive analytics within decision-making processes, setting the stage for sustainable growth and enhanced program impact.
These strategic projects are designed to increase operational efficiencies and support the delivery and management of our services, creating a stronger foundation for the evolution of the program and innovative ways to engage with youth and communities.
Pathways Program contributes to Safer Communities
Third-party evaluation of our model demonstrates that the Pathways Program continues to see measurable positive impact on the social determinants of health beyond education.
A 2019 study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research found meaningful, long-term benefits to employment outcomes for young people enrolled in the Pathways Program: an increase in annual earnings by 19%, an increase in employment by 14%, and a reduced reliance on social assistance by more than a third.
In 2024, the original researchers (Oreopolous, Levecchia, and Brown) released a new component of their research on Pathways Program effectiveness, finding that eligibility for the Pathways Program reduced the likelihood a person was charged for a crime by 32 percent.
Pathways continues to leverage the unique strengths and resources of our community partners to make this impact possible and collectively address the complex realities of poverty, leading to stronger, healthier, and safer communities across the country.
Results of our National Alumni Impact Survey
The Pathways Program has a proven track record of improving graduation rates in the communities we serve. Since our inception, we’ve been committed to robust data monitoring and measurement to design and deliver progressive programming that can further positive youth development.
As the program matures and serves more youth than ever before, there is a need to better understand the long-term impact beyond high school graduation. These insights will help to better communicate the benefits of the Pathways Program, as well as better evaluate the program’s ability to address the evolving needs of Pathways youth across the country.
Last year, our dedicated Research and Evaluation team conducted an inaugural Alumni Impact Survey, exploring the long-term benefits of the Pathways Program and Pathways alumni achievement. Over 1,500 Pathways alumni nationwide provided information on their current study or working status and on the Pathways Program’s impact on preparing them for life after high school.
Findings from the survey highlight how Pathways alumni make valuable economic and civic contributions to society. Testimonials from alumni on the competencies and skills they developed through diverse programming activities affirm the Pathways Program’s positive long-term impact on young people’s successful transitions to adulthood.
A high-level snapshot of life after high school for Pathways alumni demonstrate that:
- Pathways alumni are giving back to their communities and see a clear connection between program participation and civic engagement, with 47% of alumni reporting having made a charitable contribution in the last 12 months.
- Pathways alumni are making valuable contributions to Canada’s economy through their diverse participation in the labour force, with 72% of alumni who are working holding a permanent job, and 57.9% working while pursuing post-secondary education or training.
- Pathways alumni realize that the Pathways Program helped them develop critical competencies needed for success, highlighting important skills to navigate life after high school like goal-setting, open-mindedness, learning habits, and leadership.
- The results of this study demonstrate the tangible and positive long-term impact of our program and affirm that providing students from low-income communities with the skills and resources they need to graduate from high school is a critical first step toward long-term success.
