GenZIsNotLazy

I am originally from Belarus (came to Canada with my family a long time ago). I am also 21 years old and live in Ajax, ON, CA, which is in the eastern part of the GTA. I have also been looking for a job for about a year now, applying both online and in-person and also trying to get as many references as possible and use those. I have also been to various employment agencies such as YMCA.

I have been applying to various places like fast food restaurants, grocery stores, .etc, but with no success.

I also wanted to do an Automotive Technician apprenticeship, but I have been told that a lot of the auto repair shops here just don't get a lot of work and all of the jobs are basically taken by Temporary Foreign Workers (aka. TFWs) and immigrants on student visas. I personally wonder if this is true though, because I have also heard that January and February are usually very slow months for auto repair shops.

I was also wondering, is there a career/job in Toronto (or closer to Ajax) that is both in high demand right now (well, ignoring the fact that nobody's hiring in January now) and not taken by TFWs and immigrants on student visas?

Edit: Added explanation of what is a TFW. Also want to add that I have noticed that a lot of the jobs are just taken by TFWs and immigrants on students visas mostly from India/middle east.

I am originally from Belarus (came to Canada with my family a long time ago). I am also 21 years old and live in Ajax, ON, CA, which is in the eastern part of the GTA. I have also been looking for a job for about a year now, applying both online and in-person and also trying to get as many references as possible and use those. I have also been to various employment agencies such as YMCA.

I have been applying to various places like fast food restaurants, grocery stores, .etc, but with no success.

I also wanted to do an Automotive Technician apprenticeship, but I have been told that a lot of the auto repair shops here just don't get a lot of work and all of the jobs are basically taken by Temporary Foreign Workers (aka. TFWs) and immigrants on student visas. I personally wonder if this is true though, because I have also heard that January and February are usually very slow months for auto repair shops.

I was also wondering, is there a career/job in Toronto (or closer to Ajax) that is both in high demand right now (well, ignoring the fact that nobody's hiring in January now) and not taken by TFWs and immigrants on student visas?

Edit: Added explanation of what is a TFW. Also want to add that I have noticed that a lot of the jobs are just taken by TFWs and immigrants on students visas mostly from India/middle east.

Things haven't been going well for me and I think I just have been acting like an irresponsible child.

Basically, I am currently doing Computer Science in university right now and at the end of the fall semester of last year, my father said that if I fail at least 1 course, he'll kick me out in 2 months. I did end up failing and so therefore I immediately started looking for a job (while doing the next semester at the same time). However, I unfortunately live in Canada where the job market just absolutely sucks (thanks to both Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney!), especially if you're not an immigrant who is either on a student visa or the temporary foreign worker program. I applied for just about anything I would qualify for and only got automated rejection emails (mostly from companies like Starbucks and Walmart) if anything at all. I have also gone to my local employment agency and even to the career counseling at my university. Thankfully, my dad didn't kick me out at the time.

I have also had a lot of stress - I guess mostly due to me not getting enough sleep (although I have recently been doing much better in terms of sleep), looking for a job but not getting anything while trying to do university and doing poorly, and problems with my parents. This just has reached the point where right before this semester, I had told my parents that I just didn't really want to do my Computer Science program anymore and would rather just get a job (like either go into the trades or if I can't get into the trades then at least have a minimum wage job for now (and then progress to something with a better wage)). They then basically threatened to kick me out unless I agreed to do my Computer Science program. They say it's because it hurts their feelings because they tried so hard to get me into university and then do well and that they also really care about me, but I think it may be more about their ego and insecurities (if I'm not mistaken). I then caved in but only because I didn't want to become homeless, however I never told them that.

This semester has also just gotten a lot worse. Even though I know that I perfectly know that I must do well in my classes if I don't want to become homeless, I have been procrastinating a lot on basically all of my courses and did really poorly on my midterms. I am also usually really terrified of checking my assignments and grades and I don't really feel like I'll pass my courses this semester. My dad has also told me that if I don't do well and pass my courses there's a risk that I may lose funding for my university (neither my parents nor I currently pay for my tuition and so it's 100% covered by government loans and grants) and if so than I won't be able to continue my university and they then just won't let me into the house. I have also just gotten really tired both physically and emotionally and sometimes just not wanting to go on anymore (which has gotten better though for the past few days because I have been getting more sleep).

I know it is completely stupid for me to procrastinate on my assignments and I just feel like a completely irresponsible child now that can't focus and do anything unless you constantly beat them physically.

Also, I will be going to the mental health services at my university (despite my parents really being against it).

Also, one of my friends has suggested me to just take a year off and try to figure out what I really want to do, but I don't think that would go well with my parents. Also, even before all of this, I have really been wanting to eventually be able to find some place to rent and move out of the house (due to how bad things were even then), but the events of this year have really just accelerated this.

I am 21 years old, still live with my parents, currently studying Computer Science, and need some sort of income because I'm nearly out of money (mostly because I never had a job and I need bus fare to basically get around anywhere and I would like to have some money for hobbies).

Tried getting a job, going over my resume multiple times and handing in my resume in person, but that has not been working so far - I've been handing out like hundreds of resumes since January this year and got only 1 interview with no follow up (and I even tried places such as McDonalds, TimHortons, and Starbucks and also various programming jobs).

I have recently come up with the idea of mowing other people's lawns for money. However, when I suggested this to my parents, they said it was just inappropriate for me because if an adult were to do it, they'd do it with tools such as a proper gas powered mower, a weedwacker and possibly even a van, but all we have is an electric mower that doesn't even have batteries (don't know if there are any with batteries), so I'd have to take electricity from my customers. I also don't have enough money for a weedwacker or a new lawn mower.

Anyhow, they think it's a stupid idea, but I personally think that even if it doesn't work out and I don't get any customers, then I have nothing to lose from it, and if it does work, then I get cash, and actual work experience to put on my resume (because right now I basically only have my mandatory high school volunteer hours).

I personally do think that there is a chance that they might be correct, but I personally think that I'd have to actually try it before I could be totally sure.

Plus, I believe one of the main reasons why I'm in this situation now is because in High School they always told me things like that I was stupid, and too slow and clumsy to work in fast food or grocery stores (and other jobs that high schoolers normally take) and should just focus on getting A+ grades to get accepted into the best universities and get a job as a programmer, and I fully believed them and instead of trying to get a job during the summers, I took summer school courses which just ended up in me filling up the resulting empty spots with elective courses and so I graduated high school at the same time as everyone else - and so looking back I do think that I should have just ignored my parents and got myself a job during the summer in high school. During my first few years in university, I was also under the impression that getting a job was not too hard and didn't take really that long as it's actually taking for me and that I could just get a programming job right now or when I graduate - and turns out I was wrong.

By the way, I also live in Durham Region, Ontario (which is in the GTA on the east side).

Any advice on this? Do you think that this may actually work?

Also, if I do end up mowing lawns for money with the equipment I have, would a price of around 20 - 25 CAD per mow be reasonable?