New Wage Subsidy Program Helps New Graduates Gain Scientific Experience in Environmental Fields

OTTAWA, November 15, 2017 – BioTalent Canada today announced a new wage-subsidy program to help new graduates in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) acquire work experience in environmental STEM fields.

The Science Horizons Youth Internship Program is a federally-funded initiative to tackle youth unemployment, helping employers hire the talent they need and recent STEM graduates gain skills to secure full-time employment in environmental STEM fields.

Funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Canada, the program will provide over $1.1 million to facilitate the hiring of 100 new graduates in the next two years.

“Giving biotech companies the funds to hire the talent they need solves the two biggest hurdles in Canada’s bio-economy, access to capital and access to skills,” says Rob Henderson, President and CEO of BioTalent Canada. “Programs like Science Horizons not only help young talent find meaningful employment, but also drives innovation and growth among small- and medium-sized businesses, solidifying Canada’s competitive position.”

Many Canadian biotech companies agree with the advantages wage subsidy programs present to small companies. “We had a chance to work on a project with a superb Master’s student with impressive talent and knowledge that we realized we needed,” says Dr. Phil Whiting, CEO at Mirexus Biotechnologies, a natural biomaterials company from Guelph, Ontario. “The program allowed us to fit our new hire into our budget and add an important new team member to our business development team with a huge impact on some of our best growth opportunities.”

BioTalent Canada, a national non-profit HR association for Canada’s bio-economy, states that wage subsidies have been instrumental in jump-starting careers. According to their 2017 labour market report on youth employment, Opening the Door II, almost 85% of new graduates retain full-time employment even after their wage subsidies have ended.

Science Horizons constitutes just one of BioTalent Canada’s range of wage subsidy programs, which will inject a total of over $10.3 million for Canadian biotech employers to hire 1,400 new employees over the next four years.

“Wage subsidies helped us hire staff with expertise and knowledge, enabling us to quickly move forward with our projects,” according to Lynn Menegotto, Human Resource Manager at MANTECH, a company from Guelph, Ontario that manufactures water quality analysis systems.

The Science Horizons Youth Internship Program was undertaken with the financial support of Environment and Climate Change Canada. The views expressed herein are solely those of BioTalent Canada

Companies interested in applying for wage subsidies are encouraged to visit biotalent.ca/wage-subsidies.

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About BioTalent Canada

BioTalent Canada is the HR partner of Canada’s bio-economy. As an HR expert and national non-profit organization, BioTalent Canada focuses on building partnerships and skills for Canada’s bio-economy to ensure the industry has access to job-ready people. Through projects, research, and product development, BioTalent Canada connects employers with job seekers, delivers human resource information, and skills development tools so the industry can focus on strengthening Canada’s biotech business. For more information, please visit biotalent.ca.

Media inquiries:

Fiorella Jansen-Nicorescu
Marketing & Communications Manager
BioTalent Canada
613-235-1402 ext. 229
[email protected]