Back to School Time: 13 Grants for Student Hires

5 min readAug 23, 2021

With the summer coming to an end and students gearing up to go back to school, it’s time to start thinking about bringing on some helping hands this fall and creating more job opportunities for students!

University can be expensive, so most students would prefer to make some money while gaining experience in their field at the same time.

And as a small business, you likely could use some help with a particular company function without the massive price tag of a full-timer.

This blog post will explore a list of grant programs specifically for student hires! It’s a win-win for the student and the business!

While we’d normally only list up to 10 grants to check out, today we’re giving you our longest list yet because of the overwhelming amount of grant funding available for student hires. 💸

1. BC Tech Co-op Grant

Province: British Columbia

This grant allows businesses to access up to $20,000 in funding to hire a co-op student in a tech role or at a tech-based company.

The student hired must be enrolled in a BC post-secondary institution.

2. Mitacs Accelerate Program

Province: All Regions

This grant matches a $7,500 contribution by the company to help fund a 4-to-6-month internship for a research project.

The student must be full-time at a Canadian college or university or a full-time graduate student from France, Israel, or Norway. (🔥 Hot Tip: This grant is open to international students which means you have a larger candidate pool than a lot of other grants!)

3. Co-operative Education Incentive WINTER TERM

Province: Nova Scotia

This wage subsidy offers $7.50 to $10 per hour for an 8-to-14-week internship where a student is paid student-employee minimum wage at a non-profit organization registered as a charity.

The student must be enrolled in a co-op education program at a university or college in Nova Scotia and the student’s area of study must match the job.

The upcoming deadline for applications is September 15, 2021.

4. IRAP Accelerated Review Process Research Grant

Province: All Regions

This grant is for technical research needed to solve an internal innovation challenge with up to 80% of direct labour costs (including payroll expenses) being awarded up to $50,000.

Eligible hires are full-time students at a Canadian university in any academic discipline.

5. Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Digital Subsidy

Province: All Regions

This grant provides a maximum of $7,500 to employers providing students with opportunities to grow foundational and entrepreneurial skills. The businesses must be within the digital economy.

The hire must be a full-time or part-time student from any discipline at a public Canadian post-secondary institution.

6. Bio Talent Student Work Placement Program

Province: All Regions

This up to $7,500 grant is offered to employers creating a work-integrated learning opportunity in the biotech or healthcare sector.

The student must be a full-time or part-time post-secondary student and can work for a maximum of 16 weeks.

7. Level UP

Province: All Regions

This program matches a student or team of students to a project within a business (80 hours spanning 2 to 8 weeks) where each student will be paid $1,400 at the end of the term by Riipen.

Students must be in a post-secondary program and companies can run and receive funding for multiple projects up until March 2022.

8. Future Ready New Brunswick

Province: New Brunswick

This grant helps employers to access student talent with a 100% wage subsidy for companies with fewer than 50 employees or a 50% wage subsidy if greater than 50 employees.

The candidate must be a full-time student and approved by the institution. The job experience must be related to the student's field of study.

9. TalentEdge Internship Program

Province: Ontario

This program provides support for students to work on industry-driven research and development projects with up to $10,000 worth of funding for a 4-month unit or up to $60,000 for a 6-month unit.

The student must be in their final year of their undergraduate, a master's or PhD student, or be within 3 years of graduation from an undergrad/master’s at an Ontario college, university, or research hospital.

10. Technation Career Ready Program

Province: All Regions

This grant funds 75% (up to $7,500) of an up to 16-week work term. The student must be immersed in technology in a way that is relevant to their field of study.

The student must be currently enrolled in a post-secondary institution program.

11. Electricity Human Resources Canada’s (EHRC) Empowering Futures

Province: All Regions

This student work placement program is aimed at the electricity industry and provides $7,500 per student wage subsidies (up to 75%).

An eligible candidate must be a part-time or full-time student with a co-op in science, technology, engineering, math, or business.

The upcoming application deadline for the fall term is September 11.

12. ECO Canada Co-op Funding

Province: All Regions

This funding is to help kickstart the careers of students in the environmental sector. The grant value is a maximum of 75%, up to $7,500 per placement.

The hire must be a STEAM or business post-secondary student.

13. VFC Intrapreneurship Program

Province: All Regions

This program compensates students for completing projects for startups, up to 70 hours with 10 to 20 hours of employer commitment over 7 weeks.

Students selected will be based on skill sets and ambition with underserved community Intrapreneurs benefiting from up to 20 hours of training to help them succeed in their projects.