Student Work Placement Program

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Overview and deadlines | Program description | Academic partners | SWPP’s impact | Eligibility | How to apply | Submit an application | Contact us

Overview and deadlines

The Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) is a paid internship/Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) initiative to provide students on-the-job training to increase their job-readiness after graduation.  

The program gives employers the freedom to: 

• • • Access to support to hire students for a paid internship 
    • Leverage a pool of workers eager to enhance their skills 
    • Provide on-the-job experience for young talent 
    • Develop new talent for future recruitment needs

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

Deadlines:

• Winter 2026 term placements with the earliest start date of December 1, 2025, and the latest end date of March 31, 2026. The application intake will take place from December 1, 2025, to February 2, or until the program is full 2026.

Please note: Program capacity is limited and may be reached before the intake deadline—early applications are strongly encouraged.

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

Hear what these employers have said. 

 

  

click images for the full videos

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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 and 70% up to a maximum of $7,000 for first-year students and under-represented groups including:  
      • women in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM); 
      • Indigenous students;  
      • persons with disabilities; 
      •  members of a visible minority; and  
      • newcomers. 
    • 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. 

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.

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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. 

 

New SWPP impact report

BioTalent Canada has issued a new report detailing the success of its national Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) and its positive impact on the severe Labour Market Shortages affecting Canada’s Bioscience industry.

 

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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 post-secondary institution across Canada through BioTalent Canada’s Student Work Placement Program. 

• • • As of August 1, 2024 – Due to the overwhelming demand for SWPP funding there is no guarantee all applications will be approved and at this time priority is being given to Bioscience employers. Healthcare employers may be considered only if there is an overlap with the bio-economy, such as with 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 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.  
    • 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 
    • Studying in fields related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), business and/ or any other program 

Please also see the Participant information page for participant eligibility. 

Participant/ Student cannot be:

• • • An international student nor 
    • A student between programs (e.g., graduating in the spring from one program and starting another in the fall.) 

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). 
    • 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 past, before they receive BioTalent Canada SWPP funding. Please provide the lower number of students hired in the 2024 calendar year for which you received no government funding. If you did not hire any students in 2024 please enter 0. 
    • 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. 

Should the placement be longer than 16 weeks, please contact us as you could be eligible to apply for another funding term. 

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