Internship EMPLOYER Application

 Français? Appuyez-ici

Thank you for your interest in Venture for Canada’s Internship Program, a delivery partner of ESDC’s Student Work Placement Program. 

VFC supports your growth by helping develop your talent pipeline. We provide access to college and university student talent, wage subsidies, and HR resources to help you hire. Motivated students become VFC Interns when they find unique opportunities at startups, nonprofits and SMEs like yours. We support all VFC Interns with access to our exclusive professional development training, delivered digitally over the course of their internships.

New cohorts of Interns are placed every Fall, Winter and Summer.

-

HOW THIS WORKS

 

This application should take 15-20 minutes to complete and is a required FIRST step for all interested employers. We welcome applications from employers who are seeking an intern candidate, or who have already matched a student for this Summer. 

  1. Applications will be processed within five business days
  2. Employers who meet the minimum eligibility mandated by our funder will be invited to a requisite short Eligibility Webinar with the VFC Internship Employer Team. Look out for an email with a webinar booking link, and check your Spam folder if you haven't heard from us within a week. Booking and completing this mandatory Eligibility Webinar is the second step in our application.

If deemed Eligible, you'll gain access to our hiring resources:

  • Post to our exclusive Job Board, accessible by hundreds of eligible candidates;
  • Review resumes and invite specific applicants directly from our pre-screened lists of eligible candidates; and/or 
  • Identify your own student from post-secondary institutions / your own network, and bring them to us for qualification.

Whether you're seeking a candidate or have already identified your ideal hire, you'll manage your own hiring process. Funding is allocated on a rolling basis to fully eligible and approved internship matches, and funding cannot be allocated until you hire an eligible student. Read on for detailed student and employer eligibility!

--

EMPLOYER ELIGIBILITY

Minimum eligibility criteria includes:

  • Be a small or medium-sized business, start-up, social enterprise, nonprofit, or charity
  • Have a physical office (pre-Covid) in one of the following Canadian provinces: the Northern Territories, BC, AB, SK, MB, QC, NB, NS, PE or NL
  • Employ fewer than 500 people
  • Provide a safe and supportive internship that develops innovation or entrepreneurial skill-building opportunities

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

Minimum eligibility criteria includes:

  • Full and part time students enrolled in an accredited Canadian college or university
  • Studying any discipline, at any diploma or degree level
  • Canadian citizenship, Permanent Residency or refugee status

--

ADDITIONAL PROGRAM DETAILS

We applaud your commitment to supporting student talent during these unprecedented times. The following program guidelines are designed to help as many businesses and students as possible.

  • FOR SUMMER 2021: Our funder offers a 50-70% wage subsidy, capped at $7,000, per intern, per term for all placements.
  • Work from home and remote internships are supported. Students must still receive virtual supervision and coaching.
  • Interns may work full or part time for your organization; these terms should be discussed directly with your candidates.
  • How many interns can you hire? 
    • 1 Intern - Employers participating in our program for the first time that have 1-2 staff
    • 2 Interns - Employers participating in our program for the first time that have 3+ staff or Employers who have previously hired through VFC and have 1-2 staff
    • 3 Interns - Employers who have previously hired through VFC and have 3-25 staff
    • 5 Interns - Employers who have previously hired through VFC and have 26+ staff
  • Post-secondary institutions (universities, colleges and polytechnics) may not be the employers of record to offer innovative placements to students this Summer. 

--

TIMELINES

  • Employer applications will be accepted until March 14, 2021.
  • Employers must submit student hire information by March 26, 2021.
  • Internship START date window: April 19, 2021 - May 17, 2021.
  • Internship END date window: June 14, 2021 - October 4, 2021. 
  • Funding will be allocated until March 26, 2021, or until we have reached capacity. We will notify all Eligible Employers by email when 70% of our funding has been allocated.
  • Internships cannot exceed 20 weeks. Again, part time or full time internships are welcome.  

--

FUNDING DETAILS

Our program provides a 50-70% wage subsidy (capped at $7,000), per student per term. Employers are required to pay Interns a minimum wage of $15.00/hour or higher via payroll. This funding subsidizes both hourly wages and all mandatory payroll contributions. 

Half of your allowable subsidy is paid within six weeks of your intern's start date, and the remainder is paid upon completion of the placement.

--

CONFIDENTIALITY

The personal information collected by Venture for Canada in the completion of this application is collected in accordance with The Privacy Act. Our use of information will include sharing details of your application with third parties as required by our funder, the Government of Canada. If you have any questions about the use of your personal information, please email support@ventureforcanada.ca with the subject line: VFC IP Application Privacy.

If you have questions about our program or this application, please email the Internship Program Employer Team.

Thank you for your application! We look forward to learning more about your organization and supporting Canada's youth and our shared economic future together.

Apply for Position
* Required fields
First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Location *
Phone number*
Company Name*
Company Website*
Company Phone*
Your Title*
Your Direct Phone, including extension:
How did you hear about Venture for Canada's Internship Program? Please select all that apply.*
Details/Other
Our program places intern cohorts in Fall, Winter, and Summer semesters. When are you interested in hosting an intern(s)? Employers are welcome to participate in multiple semesters; please select all that apply.*
Are you a current VFC Fellow (ie. not graduated)?*
If yes, are you a stockholder, investor, or (part) owner of the organization listed above?
What is your organization's structure?*
Please select the industry that best relates to your organization.*
How many years has your organization been in business?*
Which stage best describes your company? This will not affect your eligibility.*
How many people are currently employed in your organization?*
Have your organization's leaders previously founded a company? If so, which one(s)?*
In 2-3 sentences, please describe what your organization does and who's involved in day-to-day operations.*
Where does your organization have the most room for growth?*
If Other, please describe below in 25 words or less.
Please describe any experience your staff has managing/working with post-secondary student employees. No experience is required.*
Why is your organization applying to participate in VFC's Internship Program?*
How many interns can you hire?

1 Intern - Employers participating in our program for the first time that have 1-2 staff
2 Interns - Employers participating in our program for the first time that have 3+ staff or Employers who have previously hired through VFC and have 1-2 staff
3 Interns - Employers who have previously hired through VFC and have 3-25 staff
5 Interns - Employers who have previously hired through VFC and have 26+ staff

How many VFC interns would you like to hire for the Summer 2021 semester?*
VFC interns want to explore entrepreneurship in start-ups and small businesses, and appropriate placements will develop the innovation or business skills of these motivated students. All internships must offer opportunities to contribute to new initiatives or add new value to your organization. While some repetitive work is inherent to any job, internships that are more than 50% administrative, retail or manual cannot be approved.

Our staff is available to help develop your full job descriptions upon your acceptance into our program. In the meantime, we'd love to hear your current thinking on how you'd like to employ interns!

INTERNSHIP JOB TITLE #1:*
Do you have a specific student in mind for this role?

If yes, please enter their full name here:
Student's email:
Student's post-secondary institution:
Which category best describes this role?*
If Other, please define.
This role will develop the following new value for your organizations (please choose all that apply):*
Which transferable skills will be developed through this role (please choose up to three):*
Which supports and training opportunities would this position offer the intern? (Please choose all that apply).*
Internship Location - City/Town*
Internship Location - Province*
Who on your team will directly supervise this intern? Please list name and title.*
In which type of environment would this intern work?*
Now repeat this process if you have a second job you'd like to hire for.

INTERNSHIP JOB TITLE #2:
Do you have a specific student in mind for this role?

If yes, please enter their full name here:
Student's email:
Student's post-secondary institution:
Which category best describes this role?
If Other, please define.
This role will develop the following new value for your organizations (please choose all that apply):
Which transferable skills will be developed through this role (please choose up to three):
Which supports and training opportunities would this position offer the intern? (Please choose all that apply).
Internship Location - City/Town
Internship Location - Province
Who on your team will directly supervise this intern? Please list name and title.
Can the intern’s supervisor meet with the intern, in person or via phone or video conference, at least twice a week, and be in the same physical location as intern(s) at least once a week?
In which type of environment would this intern work?
Is this the very first time your company has ever hired a student?*
If this is not your company's first time hiring a student, we would like to learn more about your previous student hiring data.

VFC's Internship Program is funded through Employment and Social Development Canada's Student Work Placement Program. Our funder tracks whether VFC-supported internships increase the number of post-secondary students your organization is able to employ, over and above your past student hires.

- Please report on unique students. If a student worked in more than one semester, only count the student once.
- Part time and full time students must be counted equally.
- Do not count: high school students, post-secondary graduates, or post-secondary students that were paid with the help of government grants.

How many paid, post-secondary students did you/will you employ without government funding in the 12 months before your desired VFC funding period? For example, if you are applying for Summer 2021, report how many unique students you employed between May 2020 - April 2021.*
Our program exists to mitigate risk associated with student hiring for employers and facilitate entrepreneurial exploration for students. While our program and staff are here to support these internships, your participation in our program requires legal and financial commitments to your intern(s) and VFC. Please review the following statements carefully.

If I successfully hire a student supported by VFC's Internship Program I commit to the following statements:

I am able to provide a safe, civil, and supportive work environment for my intern(s), free from yelling, bullying, or other harassing behaviour and in adherence to all provincial labour laws.*
I will set and communicate reasonable expectations for my intern(s), based on their skills, experience, and interests.*
My organization has the financial capacity to pay the student for the duration of the placement in full (the wage subsidy is administered as a reimbursement, not a direct wage to intern).*
I will set up a payroll deductions account with CRA ahead of the internship start date, pay intern(s) an hourly wage on payroll, and adhere to all CRA requirements.*
I will use VFC wage subsidies exclusively for as a reimbursement for intern wages, and never for other business or personal expenses.*
Our program offers every VFC intern access to our Virtual Training Program to support them in the small business environment. They will be able to access a library of thousands of virtual courses, take on challenges that earn them points, and attend live sessions with entrepreneurs.

I understand that an intern cannot be deemed eligible for any future VFC programming (repeat internships, Fellowship, etc.) if these training requirements are not met.*
Are you currently hiring for any full-time entry level positions? (ie. other positions that are not short-term internships)*