Funding

There are various sources of funding you can access to support the hiring of your co-op student.

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Student Work Placement Program

The federal Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) provides wage subsidies for employers to hire post-secondary students across Canada.

Through SWPP, employers can receive subsidies for every student hired through the program, with amounts of:

  • 50% of wages, up to $5,000, or
  • 70% of wages, up to $7,000 for a student who is in their first year or is from an under-represented group.

Note: SWPP funding cannot be stacked with other federal funding programs, such as Canada Summer Jobs.

Access SWPP Funding

In order to access funding, you must apply through a delivery organization. Funding is administered on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible when applications are open each term. (Timing will vary by delivery organization.)

There are multiple delivery organizations for employers to access SWPP funding. Due to the diversity of eligible roles and sectors, most UBC Arts Co-op employers would find the best fit through:

Canada Summer Jobs Program

Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) is an initiative of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.

It provides funding for not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers, and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to create high-quality summer job opportunities for youth between the ages of 15 and 30.

For more information, visit the Employment and Social Development Canada website.

Young Canada Works Program

Young Canada Works (YCW) wage subsidies are dedicated to offering summer jobs and internships to Canadian students and graduates, allowing them to gain valuable experience while putting their skills to the test.

Young Canada Works (YCW) sponsors 2 summer job programs for students:

BC Arts Council: Arts Impact Grant

The Arts Impact Grant provides flexible funding for arts and culture organizations and collectives to “prioritize a specific project or group of related activities that will provide the most meaningful impact to their organization, artistic practice, or to their community.” This may include the hiring of a co-op student to support the strengthening, expansion, or stabilization of organizations or collectives.

Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions

Access $12,000 to hire a university student to work on climate change mitigation and adaptation research, planning or implementation.

Employer eligibility: BC provincial, regional, and local governments, BC-based non-governmental agencies and Indigenous communities, private companies and Crown corporations

Mitacs Accelerate

Support your hiring of an undergraduate or graduate co-op student with Mitacs Accelerate – a national internship program that connects companies and other organizations with Canada’s universities.

  • Funding: $15,000 research award per 4-6 month unit with the employer contributing $7,500. For six or more units with three or more interns, see the website for award and contribution details.
  • Timelines: Apply anytime and applications are reviewed in 6-8 weeks.

During an Accelerate internship, the student spends about half the term on site at your workplace, working on the research issue in question and collecting data. For the balance of the term, the student will spend at UBC further advancing the research under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.

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