Student Work Placement Program

The Student Work Placement Program is now accepting applications for multiple terms!

Hire student talent with SWPP funding when it works for your organization.  

The Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) helps bioscience and eligible healthcare employers hire post‑secondary students through paid work‑integrated learning opportunities. With applications now being accepted for multiple terms and updated eligibility rules for small employers, it is easier than ever to get started. 

 

Apply Now | Check your eligibility

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Overview | What’s new this year | Program funding | Program description | Eligibility | Academic partners | SWPP’s impact |  How to apply | What others have to say about SWPP | Submit an application | Contact us

Overview 

The Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) is a paid work-integrated learning (WIL) initiative that helps employers build talent pipelines while supporting students as they gain hands‑on experience related to their field of study. 

Through SWPP, employers can: 

• Access funding support to help cover student wages 
• Bring in motivated, skilled students ready to contribute 
• Develop future talent aligned to business needs 
• Strengthen connections with post‑secondary institutions across Canada 

Applications are open year‑round, and employers may apply for one or multiple placement terms at the same time. While applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, they are prioritized by term. 

You can learn more about the benefits and impact of SWPP in our report Results with impact: The ROI of student talent.

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What’s new this year

Ability to apply for multiple terms

• You no longer have to wait for specific intake periods. Employers can apply for SWPP funding at any time and plan placements according to their hiring timelines.

Expanded eligibility for small employers

• Organizations with 99 or fewer employees are no longer required to demonstrate that student placements are incremental or net new from their previous year of hiring with no government funding. This means all small organizations may apply, regardless of whether they have established a baseline for students hired.
• Medium and large employers (100+ employees) must continue to demonstrate that placements are over and above their historical baseline.

Looking to move your application forward faster? 

Employers who successfully complete BioTalent Canada’s Workplace Sexual Harassment training, developed with support from the Department of Justice Canada, may be eligible to advance their SWPP application in the review queue. 

To be eligible, employers must register for and complete the Building a Safer Bio-economy: Addressing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace courses through their biotalent.ca account, including required pre‑ and post‑assessments. Please note: a maximum of five participants per organization can be considered at a time.

This option supports employers in building safer, more respectful workplaces while helping applications progress more efficiently. 

Program funding

SWPP helps reduce the cost of hiring post secondary students through wage subsidies that support paid work integrated learning placements. 

Funding provides: 

•  50% of student wages, to a maximum of $5,000 per placement term 
• Support for placements ranging from 4 to 16 weeks, at a minimum of 10 hours per week 

If a placement extends beyond 16 weeks, employers may apply for multiple terms at the same time to support the full duration of the placement. 

Program description

This employer support program: 

• • • Reduces the cost barriers by covering the cost of the paid internship salary by 50% up to a maximum of $5,000
    • Enables employers to bring on an eager-to-learn student for a special project – and at the end of the placement end up with a skilled candidate already oriented to the organization and could meet future recruiting needs. 

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Eligibility

The support from SWPP is available to all employers creating a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunity and meeting the program criteria. Biotechnology or healthcare organizations (with an overlap into the bio-economy) can hire students from any accredited post-secondary institution across Canada through BioTalent Canada’s Student Work Placement Program.  

• • • As of August 1, 2024 – While priority is currently given the bioscience employers, healthcare employers are also encouraged to apply if there is an overlap with the bio-economy (such as clinical trials or other research). This overlap should be identified in the SWPP application in the organization or job description.  
    • As of April 1, 2022 – Post-secondary institutions (universities, colleges and polytechnics) are no longer eligible to participate in SWPP as the employer of record. 

To qualify for the program, either: 

• • 1. the position needs to have a biotechnology/biosciences or healthcare focus (with an overlap with the bio-economy) or 
    2. the employer needs to have a biotechnology/biosciences or healthcare focus (with an overlap with the bio-economy). 

Participant/Student must be:

• • • Enrolled as a full-time or part-time student and have started a your term at a Canadian post-secondary education institution. Including CEGEP, College, undergrad, Masters, PhD or post-graduate students. Students can be registered in STEM, healthcare, business and all other programs.
      • Note: participants must be actively enrolled for the entirety of the placement. For example, students in between programs and students who have completed all degree requirements but are just awaiting convocation would be ineligible.
    • A Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or persons to whom refugee protection has been conferred and legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations

Please also see the Participant information page for participant eligibility. 

Participant/Student cannot be:

• • • An international student nor 
    • A student not actively enrolled/started their program (e.g., student that graduated in the spring from one program and is starting another). Students who are entering their first year but have not started their program are not able to apply.

Placement criteria:

• • • A full- or part-time work opportunity at a minimum of 10 hours/week, for a minimum of 4 weeks up to a maximum of 16 weeks.
    • Be with a bio-economy employer or healthcare employer (with an overlap into the bio-economy) and/or fulfilling a bio-economy or healthcare job function (with an overlap into the bio-economy).
    • Medium and large businesses (100+ employees) must be over and above (i.e. net new) your organization’s baseline number of students previously hired. This baseline number is on file with BioTalent Canada, or it will be requested if this is your organization’s first application for SWPP funding.
    • To show the impact of this funding program, BioTalent Canada is required to track the number of students an employer hired in the previous calendar year, before they receive BioTalent Canada SWPP funding. Please provide the lower number of students hired in the last calendar year for which you received no government funding. Please enter 0 if you did not hire any students during this time.
    • The wages for the placement must not be funded by other Federal grants such as CIHR, NSERC, Canada Summer Jobs, or by another federally-funded program such as IRAP, Mitacs etc. Placements funded through a stipend, scholarship and/or bursaries do not qualify.
    •  The student must be added to the employer’s payroll which includes Federal/Provincial tax deductions (CPP, EI, etc.). Participants are not eligible for the program as contractors.

Specific program criteria set according to BioTalent Canada’s agreement with the Government of Canada.

Funding is provided for a maximum of 16 weeks per term. You would need to apply for multiple terms should the placement be longer than 16 weeks. If you are applying for more than one term, you are now able to do so all at once through our online system.

Please note: Employer matching services are not provided through BioTalent Canada’s Student Work Placement Program. Students interested in participating in the program must find a placement before the application process starts. For more information on employers who are currently hiring, please visit the national job board The PetriDish.

Academic partners

                                                                                                                    

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SWPP’s impact

Our comprehensive report, titled “Biosciences Booster: Student Work Placement Program propelling Canada’s bio-economy forward,” highlights the remarkable success that has been achieved since the bioscience and healthcare SWPP program began in 2017. 

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How could your organization grow with support to bring in new talent? 

Hear what these employers have said. 

 

  

click images for the full videos