The Career Starter Program is now accepting applications!
Offers up to $20,000 in support, including wrap-around services, to hire young talent.
Gaining a Competitive Edge
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The Career Starter Program facilitates the transition of barriered youth and those furthest from employment into the labour market. It bridges the gap between talent and industry, introduces participants to the bio-economy as a viable career path, and enables employers to strengthen their workforce.
Program Description
Career Starter provides bio-economy employers with 60% of a youth’s salary to a maximum of $20,000 including wrap-around services. This will help employers adopt a diverse and inclusive work culture while satisfying their need for skilled labour.
The program encourages employers to open the bio-economy’s doors to barriered youth and youth furthest from employment. Barriered youth includes individuals who experience broader systemic barriers that negatively impact their ability to find and keep employment, Youth furthest from employment are barriered youth who are chronically not in employment, education or training (NEET) for at least 6 months, and have other unmet basic needs.
As Canada faces a shortage of 65,000 workers in the bio-economy by 2029, Career Starter introduces employers to skilled talent in places they may not have considered looking.
Please note: The support will not cover vacation pay, employment insurance premiums or Canada Pension Plan contributions
In addition to the paid internship, the program will provide additional supports including:
- A BioTalent Canada case manager for each participant to create individualized case plans to follow up on goals, challenges and achievements and recommend wrap-around services to support them through a successful placement.
- Funding for wrap-around services —each participant will be granted individualized access to wrap-around services at an average of $2,500 per participant. Anticipated offerings include, but are not limited to training, disability accommodations, and various other services such as:
- Relocation costs
- Transportation supports
- Housing Assistance
- Accessibility accommodations
- Additional training for job success
- Counselling and mental health supports
- Personal protective equipment
- Childcare
- Legal supports
- Cultural competency training
- Networking events
- Mentoring
- Virtual networking sessions for participants
- Onboarding tools for employers, including a diversity and inclusion HR policy template and ongoing monitoring to ensure program success
Please contact Jennifer Ash, Project Manager, at [email protected] for more details about the wrap-around services. Pre-approval must be sent to Jennifer before submitting for re-imbursement. Employers and/or participants will be required to fill out and submit a specific claim form with supporting documentation.
Eligibility
Participants must be:
- Between 15 and 30 years of age (inclusive)
- New hires to the organization
- Not be in school full-time (part-time students can apply)
- Able to work full-time
- A Canadian citizen, or permanent resident or a protected person as defined by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
- Legally entitled to work in Canada
- Legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations
- Barriered youth, including the following but not limited to:
- Involuntary NEET: Youth who are involuntarily not in employment, education, or training (NEET)
- Youth living with disabilities
- Youth in Official Language Minority communities
- Indigenous youth
- Recent immigrant and/or refugee
- Youth from racialized community groups
- 2SLGBTQI+
- Youth experiencing homelessness or precarious housing
- Youth living in low-income households
- Youth residing in rural or remote areas
- Youth living with family care responsibilities (single parent youth, caregiver of dependents)
- Youth who are early leavers from high school
- Underemployed youth
- Women in STEM
- Youth Furthest from Employment: Youth aged 15 to 30 who are chronically not in employment, education or training (NEET) for at least 6 months, AND who have other unmet basic needs (for example, income security, housing, disability, health, etc.) that undermine their employability. These youths also experience broader systemic barriers that negatively impact their ability to find and keep employment. Examples of these barriers are noted above, under the definition of barriered youth.
Employer must:
- Work within the bio-economy
- Maintain an internal process for supervising and mentoring for the participant
- Provide a full-time position, 30 hours per week or more for a minimum of 3 months
- Assign a mentor/job coach who will act as an advisor, counselor or guide to the participants and will promote personal and professional development. The mentor will provide support and feedback to the participants
- Submit progress reports as requested by BioTalent Canada
- Contribute at least 40% of the total salary of each participant
This position must not be funded by another Federally funded program like IRAP, Mitacs, etc.
Uncertain if you qualify? Don’t count yourself out.
Contact Colleen at 1-866-243-2472, ext. 218 or [email protected].
Funded in part by Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Skills Strategy Program 
