By Chris Avery
Five major internship funding opportunities are available to help students secure an entry-level position to jump-start your future career path. Whether a business student or part of a different faculty, the following funding options are available to a wide range of industries.
Mitacs Accelerate
Mitacs Accelerate offers three internship funding areas. In an email correspondence to applicants for the BBA Co-Op program offered at NAIT, the coordinator Ryan Young describes several streams through Mitacs Accelerate.
“Mitacs Accelerate funds students who intern with a company,” said Young. “The key for this funding is that there must be some kind of project that the student must also do. In other words, you intern with the company while also working on something that brings added value to them.”
With this stream, the cost to the company would be $7,500 in salary, with Mitacs Accelerate supplementing an additional $4,500, rounding off the salary to $12,000.
Another option is available for budding entrepreneurs.
“Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur is meant for any student who is looking to start their own business,” said Young. “You can receive matching funds for up to three semesters during your program to fund your work on your new venture.” The main requirement for this stream is that you are involved with the Mawji Centre.
Lastly from Mitacs is a funding opportunity called the Business Strategy Internship. The Mitacs website outlines the premise of this stream.
“The Business Strategy Internship (BSI) provides $10,000 to students who develop innovative projects designed to help an organization thrive in the new economic environment,” said the Mitacs team.
ImpAct Internships
ImpAct Internships offers a funding opportunity for the social-minded student intern. The website outlines that the source of the funding is from Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). The aim of the program is to help youth support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
“Inspired by CICan 5-year Strategic Plan 2019-2024, the ImpAct initiative, aims to support colleges and institutes in achieving their shared vision of Better Futures for Peoples and Communities,” said the website. “CICan will contribute up to 100% of the salary or participation fees, to a maximum of $10,000, for youth to become SDG ambassadors.”
Venture for Canada
The fifth and final opportunity offers a broader approach to funding. This avenue targets medium to small businesses of under 500 employees. The amount provided is up to 75% of your salary, with funds maxing out at $7,500.
For current post-secondary students, Venture for Canada offers funding access to entrepreneurs. For recent grads, the “Fellowship” program is of particular interest.
“Venture for Canada offers post-secondary students the opportunity to explore entrepreneurial work experiences in Atlantic Canada, British Columbia, Alberta and the Prairies,” explained the website.
“You’ll get the opportunity to dip your toes into entrepreneurship. You’ll develop and dive deep into entrepreneurial skills and learn what it takes to thrive at a start-up, the innovation ecosystem, or even build a business in the long term.”
With so many opportunities available to students and recent grads, an internship opportunity may be the right fit to launch a future career.
