Application deadline: June 27, 2025.

The BC Choral Federation is pleased to offer a short-term contract for part-time Youth employment through the 2025 Canada Summer Jobs Program. To be eligible, youth must: 

∙ be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the employment*; 

∙ be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment**; and, 

∙ have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations. 

*The youth must be 15 years of age at the beginning of the employment period. The youth may be more than 30 years of age at the end of the employment period as long as the youth was 30 at the beginning of the employment period. 

**International students are not eligible participants. International students include anyone who is temporarily in Canada for studies and who is not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person who has been granted refugee status in Canada. Youth awaiting a refugee status ruling, as well as those who hold a temporary visitor visa, youth visa or work visa are ineligible. As the objective of the Canada Summer Jobs program is to support youth entering the Canadian labour market, the temporary nature of an international student’s time in Canada does not allow for a long-term connection to the labour market.        

YOUTH CHORAL ASSISTANT – TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The youth will face the challenge of working in a variety of choral situations.  The work will include working on the BCCF Choral Da Capo conducting course, working from the BCCF (virtual) library stacks and from their own home, the youth will also be available to assist member choirs and their conductors around the province with various administrative tasks, such as cataloguing music and equipment, and/or being involved in vocal workshops.  This will give the youth an experience of various types of choirs, their repertoire, and their differing organizational structures. The youth could be asked to prepare programme notes for concerts, a task that will involve library research and will add to their knowledge of composers, musical styles and choral repertoire. The youth may be asked to interview at least one prominent conductor or musician for inclusion in the BCCF newsletter, or to pursue other topics of interest to musicians.  The youth will need to work independently, show initiative, and to possess both administrative and musical literacy skills. These jobs will give the youth valuable experience in choral administration, as well as expand the individual’s musical knowledge. The youth will get a real taste of being an arts administrator.

VIRTUAL LIBRARY MODERNIZATION. The tasks include handling of physical musical scores, statistical data entry of publication information, web research into current status of publications, and scanning of documents. 

SUPERVISION & REPORTING:

The youth would receive basic training and supervision over the time of the program.  The youth would be required to discuss and obtain approval ahead of time for the level of involvement in all projects and to report on all work assignments upon completion.  All written work would be monitored.  When working on the specific projects described above, supervision would be provided on site by the program managers. In general, however, the student would be expected to work independently, taking initiative regarding range of activities, priorities, and scheduling, and responsible for frequent reporting to the supervisor.  A written weekly report summarizing the hours and work accomplished is required.

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS:

Computer data entry, communications and information management will be central skills in this youth job.  In addition to work on the BCCF virtual library, the youth will be required to communicate directly with member choirs, initially to determine their need for specific skills and resources, and later to set priorities and organize a work schedule suitable to all parties.  The youth will also be required to keep the supervisor informed and get approval for all work activities and schedules.  Organizational and problem-solving skills will be developed through the delivery of various services to various groups in an appropriate way.

As the youth will be required to work quite independently on various projects, positive attitudes and behaviours and taking on the responsibility of setting goals and priorities are essential.  When working on the projects with others, teamwork skills will be critical – respect for the needs of others, leading or supporting when necessary, conflict resolution, accepting and providing feedback, are all especially important . 

The degree of resourcefulness, independent work and thought, as well as the imagination required in the non-profit arts field will be helpful in any work project, but especially in the cultural sector.                  

HEALTH AND SAFETY:

Basic safety precautions would be taken in all workplaces. As the paid workers for BCCF conduct business from their homes, there is no formal safety program beyond the stipulations of the BC provincial health officer. The youth would be encouraged to bring any problems regarding personal safety or well-being to the attention of the supervisor.        

JOB REQUIREMENTS: Equipment required include personal computer/laptop/tablet with internet access;  the ability to use Google docs (spreadsheets) or software for cataloguing the virtual library; a device to scan/photograph musical scores – smartphone, page scanner, or something similar.(BCCF will provide a scanner if need be).

JOB LOCATION:  Work at home and work as needed at St Mary’s Kerrisdale Anglican Church, 2490 West 37 Avenue, Vancouver, which is the location of the BCCF music library. Most hours will be worked from home.

HOURS AND REMUNERATION:  The hours are part time and flexible, 35 hours per week until August 29, 2025. An hourly wage of $19.00 will be paid for a set maximum of 280 hours of work for this contract. 

START DATE:  July 7, 2025

HOW TO APPLY: Applications, including a letter of interest and brief resume, should be sent by email to Victor Burke, Project Manager, BC Choral Federation: projectmanager@bcchoralfed.com