The Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Career-Launcher Internship program connects employers with skilled grads by providing up to $20,000 towards an intern’s salary.
Career-Launcher Internships have streams in digital tech, clean tech and natural resources that facilitate the transition of highly-skilled postsecondary grads to a rapidly changing labour market. This program is funded by the Government of Canada as part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.
Our Internship Programs
FAQs
Do you already have an eligible intern you would like to hire? Indicate it in the appropriate field when submitting your internship on our website. Your internship won’t be posted publicly, and you will be provided with the necessary documents for you and your intern to complete. CICan must approve the intern prior to their hire.
CICan will issue the subsidy in two payments within 10 business days following the halfway point and the end of the internship. The employer will need to submit the required documents to CICan in order to receive payments. See question 5 for document list.
The goal of Career-Launcher Internships is to provide employers with an incentive to hire grads for internships that can lead to full-time employment. For this reason, the subsidy will only cover an internship period of 6-12 months.
There is no defined rate of pay, but you can use the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat salary guide as a reference for pay rates. The total subsidy amount provided by CICan has to be used towards the intern’s salary, with the exception of the Digital Tech Internships where part of the subsidy can be used for intern training.
Interns will need to complete a:
- Participant Information Form (to be completed by the selected candidate and submitted to CICan before the candidate can be hired)
- Mid-term report in survey format (to be completed at halfway mark of the internship)
- Final report in survey format (to be completed at the end of the internship)
Employers will need to complete a:
- Budget template
- Contribution agreement between CICan and the employer
- Letter of agreement between the employer and the intern
- Mid-term report in survey format (to be completed at halfway mark of the internship)
- Final report in survey format (to be completed at the end of the internship)
Subsidy request form, including a verification of salary payment, like a paystub with the SIN removed (to be completed for each subsidy payment request)
No, an immediate family member, or family members of a director or senior officer of the employer, cannot be hired as an intern.
An immediate family member means father, mother, step-father, step-mother, foster parent, brother, sister, spouse or common-law partner, child (including child of common-law partner), step-child, ward, father-in-law, mother-in-law, or any relative permanently residing with the employer.
No, the subsidy cannot be used for a currently filled position, to replace an employee who is on leave, or for a current employee moving to a new position.
All internship applications you submit are to be for new positions or new projects. You may submit the same internship position for a new project in subsequent years. However, approval of these applications will be subject to the criteria and priorities at the time of the application.
CICan’s priority is to reach a diverse group of employers to ensure variety in the Career-Launcher Internships provided across Canada, and across sectors. There are no set limits for the internship program, however requests will be evaluated in the context of the overall number of submissions received.