3.4 Funding Steams & Programs

Funding programs for employers

The wage subsidy message is an important one when reaching out to employers, as the cost of hiring a student is a significant barrier to WIL involvement.

With dozens of funding opportunities to help offset the cost of hiring a work-term student, communication with the employer is essential. Providing employers with a quality consultative service requires that the facilitators and coordinators understand specific eligibility requirements for each of the funding streams so they can close knowledge gaps with employers.

Government of Canada’s Student Work Placement Program (SWPP)

This program is administered by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) through 12 delivery partners. The 75% SWPP wage subsidy could possibly be extended past April 30th, 2021 or it may revert back to the pre-Covid amount of 50% coverage.

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B.C Regional Funding Programs

Employers hiring students for WIL can receive grants to subsidize wages through the Innovate BC’s Tech Grants program, and the Innovator Skills Initiative Grant program. The BC Arts Council’s Co-op Placement Program is also available for arts and cultural organizations in BC.

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Mitacs Camosun College Business Strategy Internship CC-BSI

The CC-BSI award will provide $10,000 per co-op or internship student to undertake a 12-16 week development project to help organizations restore or modify their business operations in a new business environment. Participating partner organizations will contribute $5,000 for a total award of $10,000 to be used towards a student stipend.

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Canada Summer Jobs

Canada Summer Jobs is an initiative of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, which aims to provide flexible and holistic services to help all young Canadians develop the skills and gain paid work experience to successfully transition into the labour market.

The Canada Summer Jobs program objectives align with the redesigned Youth Employment and Skills Strategy and are as follows:

• provide quality work experiences for youth.
• respond to national and local priorities to improve access to the labour market for youth who face unique barriers.
• provide opportunities for youth to develop and improve their skills.

The program provides wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees, to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years. Funded employers are not restricted to hiring students — all youth aged 15 to 30 years may be eligible participants.