Collaborative Research Internships Program

This program provides financial assistance to innovative Canadian SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) towards the employment of post-secondary graduates. The graduates will be employed by innovative SMEs that are collaborating in the development of products and processes with commercial potential in conjunction with the National Research Council (NRC) and/or the Communications Research Centre (CRC) of Industry Canada. The graduates will participate in the research and development phase, as well as in the commercialization of these technologies. They may be located in the collaborating NRC or CRC laboratories or in the SMEs. In addition to meeting the needs of innovative firms, this program will facilitate the advancement of highly skilled young people within a rapidly changing labor market. The program is an initiative of the Youth Employment Strategy of the Government of Canada with funds from the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development (http://www.sdc.gc.ca/en/home.shtml).

SME Eligibility

• be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) with less than 500 employees
• be incorporated and for profit
• wish to enhance its innovation capability
• be willing to establish a trusting relationship with NRC-IRAP.

Graduate Eligibility

• be a Canadian Citizen or permanent resident or person who has been granted refugee status in Canada
• be between 15 and 30 years old (inclusive)
• have completed post-secondary education
• be a first-time youth participant in a placement of the Career Focus Program of the Youth Employment Strategy (YES).

Benefits

Your firm will receive support to hire post-secondary graduates, who will help you develop and market new technologies.

Graduates will gain valuable work experience that will help open the doors to future employment.

What is the process?

Your firm, an IRAP Industrial Technology Advisor and an NRC or CRC laboratory will develop and submit a project proposal. Once the proposal is reviewed and approved, you can hire a graduate and get started. Upon commencement of the internship, the graduate will complete a brief survey to be submitted to IRAP, which will highlight the graduate’s strengths and weaknesses in the work environment.

When the internship is finished, the graduate, your firm, IRAP and the NRC or CRC laboratory will evaluate the experience. The evaluations will help determine if the internships are fulfilling their objectives.

Internships last between six to twelve months and are available anywhere in Canada. NRC's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) is responsible for delivering the program through its 235 Industrial Technology Advisors situated in 90 communities from coast to coast.

Maximum support provided will be $12,000 to help cover a part of the graduate’s salary. Your firm is responsible for covering other expenses such as fringe benefits and overhead costs.

To Apply:

SMEs:

Contact the nearest NRC-IRAP office, call 1-877-994-4727 or visit the NRC-IRAP web site.

Post-Secondary Graduates :

Can apply by using campus recruitment offices, HRSD regional offices, internet job search sites such as http://www.skillnet.ca/pub/index.html?iin.lang=en or by contacting SMEs directly.

The program is in effect until March 31, 2008.