Small Business Internship Program

What is Industry Canada's Small Business Internship Program?

The Small Business Internship Program provides small and medium-sized businesses financial support to hire a post secondary student intern to assist them in their adoption of information and communications technologies to increase their productivity and competitiveness.

Industry Canada's Small Business Internship Program is a collaborative effort with Canadian small businesses, post-secondary institutions, and non-government organizations that offer promising post-secondary students hands-on experience working on e-commerce projects under the mentorship and coaching of entrepreneurs. Student interns will gain an appreciation of entrepreneurship, and an opportunity to explore career possibilities.

How does the Small Business Internship Program work?

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) submit an application to the organization delivering the program in their area. If their application is approved, they can hire a student intern to help them take advantage of information and communications technologies (ICT) to help grow their business. SMEs will have the flexibility to hire the interns that possess the skills and abilities for their specific project or needs. We encourage them to hire from employment equity groups.

The SME negotiates the salary of the intern, and the benefits they may receive. Once the 12-week internship is over, the Government of Canada will reimburse 75 percent of their eligible costs, up to a total of $10,000. The SME gets the information and communications technologies help they need to grow their business, and the student gets valuable on-the-job experience.

What are the eligible costs?

Eligible costs that can be claimed by participating SMEs are the student interns’ wages and related expenses such as statutory employee benefits.

How does the Small Business Internship Program address the ICT needs of SMEs?

A significant number of SMEs are currently simply connected to the Internet or are passively on-line, and might not be taking advantage of the possibilities offered by e-business. The Small Business Internship Program seeks to improve the competitiveness of SMEs by supporting businesses to actively market on-line and improve their competitiveness with e-business practices and technologies.