Successful Student Work Placement Program increases access to on-the-job paid work experience for post-secondary students Français
84,000 work placements will be created by 2023–24
MONTRÉAL, May 21, 2019 /CNW/ - When post-secondary students get the chance to learn on-the-job, they build career skills, their resumes and connections that help them get great jobs when they graduate. Work-integrated learning through the Student Work Placement Program is how the Government of Canada will help Canada's youth gain these relevant, real-life work experiences.
That is why, in Budget 2019, the Government committed to creating 84,000 work placements by 2023–24. This new commitment is the next step towards the Government of Canada's goal to ensure that, within 10 years, every young Canadian who wants a work-integrated learning opportunity can get one.
Today, Rachel Bendayan, Member of Parliament for Outremont, on behalf of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, spoke at the Université de Montréal about the successful partnerships with BioTalent Canada and the Environmental Careers Organization of Canada and how they are helping young Canadians get the experience and skills they need through the Student Work Placement Program. To date, the Student Work Placements Program has created over 3,200 placements across Canada and the Program is on track to create 11,500 placements in the STEM and business fields by March 2021.
Students in the Program benefit from higher earnings and more employment opportunities in fields closely related to their studies. Partnerships between employers, including small and mid-sized enterprises and post-secondary institutions, play an important role in developing skills training to better prepare Canadian students for the workforce.
Quote
"On-the-job training through work-integrated learning gives post-secondary students real-life work experience for real-life jobs. Expanding the opportunities in Canada for student work placements means that more students will be work-ready when they graduate."
– The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
"Our government is helping to build a skilled workforce in Canada through student work placements. By creating stronger partnerships between business and universities, colleges and polytechnics, we are setting young people to succeed in the workforce."
– Rachel Bendayan, Member of Parliament for Outremont
"Student work placements improve employability after students graduate, but also serve as excellent training enhancements. We strongly encourage all of our students to expose themselves to the realities of working in their field."
– Sylvie Normandeau, Assistant Vice-Rector for Undergraduate Studies and Continuing Education at Université de Montréal.
"We've seen firsthand not only the benefit to businesses in terms of capacity for growth, but also the invaluable connections and experiences that students have gained. ECO Canada is eager to build on the momentum achieved thus far and continue to facilitate job opportunities for Canada's emerging environmental professionals."
– Angie Huk, Vice President, Marketing & Customer Engagement
Quick Facts
- 3,200 student work placements have been created to date. 48% of these have been for students from under-represented groups and first-year students.
- 1,082 employers have partnered with over 120 post-secondary education institutions to offer student work placements across Canada. 88% of employers were small and medium sized enterprises.
- Budget 2019 proposed to:
- create up to 20,000 new student work placements per year by 2023–24 with $631.2 million in funding over five years.
- create an additional 20,000 placements per year by 2023–24 through new partnerships with innovative businesses with $150 million over four years.
- support the Business/Higher Education Roundtable in creating an additional 44,000 student work placements by 2021–22 with $17 million over three years.
- Launched in 2017, the Student Work Placement Program will create:
- up to 10,000 paid student work placements in STEM and business fields and to build stronger partnerships between employers, polytechnics, universities and colleges with $73 million over four years. (Budget 2016)
- up to 1,000 student work placements in the field of cyber security, as part of the National Cyber Security Strategy with $8.3 million in funding. (Budget 2018)
- up to 500 new student work placements in the field of artificial intelligence with $3 million over three years. (Budget 2017)
Associated Links
Student Work Placements
Université de Montréal
BioTalent Canada
ECO Canada
Budget 2016
Budget 2017
Budget 2018
Budget 2019
Backgrounder
Student Work Placement Program
The Student Work Placement Program provides students in post-secondary education with more quality work-integrated learning opportunities and improved partnerships between employers and post-secondary education (PSE) institutions.
Work-integrated learning can take many forms. For thousands of Canadian college, university and polytechnic students, formal co-op programs help to bring together academic learning and applied work experience. These work placements can also include internships, mentorship programs or applied research projects. What is common among them all, and what is so valuable, is the connection—between a student who needs relevant work experience and an employer looking to benefit from the talent, new ideas and hard work that young people can bring to the workplace.
Partnerships
Agreements are in place with employer partners, including recognized industry associations and organizations that represent the interests of businesses in key sectors of the economy.
These partners are responsible for establishing partnerships with employers and PSE institutions and provide eligible employers with wage subsidies of up to 50 percent of the wage cost for the placement (up to a maximum of $5,000 per placement). Additionally, a 70-percent wage subsidy is available (up to a maximum of $7,000 per placement) for first-year students and under-represented groups, such as women in STEM, Indigenous students, people with disabilities and newcomers.
Employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises and PSE institutions, are working together to help students become job-ready and develop the full complement of skills employers are seeking.
SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
For media enquiries, please contact: Véronique Simard, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Patty Hajdu, P.C., M.P., Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, [email protected], 819-654-5611; Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, 819-994-5559, [email protected]
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