Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) Co-op Subsidy Overview
The Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) gives post-secondary students across Canada paid work experience related to their field of study. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) works with Employer Delivery Partners (listed below) who are a group of recognized associations and organizations that represent the interests of employers in industries.
They work with businesses and post-secondary education institutions to:
- Provide wage subsidies to employers that offer quality student work placements, and
- Create partnerships with colleges, universities, polytechnics and CEGEPs to recruit students for these placements
SWPP Highlights
- Each organization has its unique application process and criteria. Please visit the individual organization websites below for detailed information on their wage subsidy programs.
- Subsidies are granted on a first-come, first-served basis once the employer and student jointly submit their application.
- Generally, application results are available
How much funding could you receive?
- A wage subsidy of up to 50% of a student’s salary (up to $5,000) or 70% (up to $7,000) for underrepresented students
- Underrepresented groups include: Women in STEM, Indigenous Peoples, Students with disabilities, Visible minorities, Newcomers to Canada, First-year students
Wage subsidies are available to all bio-economy, biotechnology and healthcare organizations who are creating a work-integrated learning opportunity and who meet the program criteria. Employers can hire STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Math), healthcare, business students and all other programs from any post-secondary institutions across Canada through BioTalent Canada’s Student Work Placement Program.
For more information: https://www.biotalent.ca/programs/student-work-placement-program/
The Empowering Futures Program is Canada’s Student Work Placement Program for the electricity industry. Aimed at preparing students for the future of work, the program will create new work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities in electricity by providing subsidies of up to $7,000 per student position to the organizations who create these new opportunities.
For more information: https://electricityhr.ca/workplace-solutions/wage-subsidy-programs/empowering-futures-apprentices/empowering-futures-for-students-and-organizations/
ECO Canada’s Student Work Placement Program helps both students and employers find the right match and the support they need through wage assistance in the environmental workforce across all industries.
For more information: https://eco.ca/environmental-professionals/employment-funding-and-job-board/student-work-placement-co-op/
ICTC's WIL Digital helps employers grow their businesses by providing a wage subsidy to hire post-secondary students while students gain meaningful work experience and on-the-job learning in the digital economy.
For more information: https://etalentcanada.ca/for-employers/programs/work-integrated-learning-wil-digital
The Boost Your Business Technology grant offers Canadian-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) support to adopt new technologies in order to increase competitiveness and resilience. Boost Your Business Technology can help get your business online, give your e-commerce presence a boost, or digitalize your business's operations. These grants are designed to help Canadian businesses become more competitive.
For more information: https://cdap.magnet.today/boost-your-business-technology/
TECHNATION’s Career Ready Program supports students to have meaningful work and provides businesses an affordable way to scale up their tech talent. With funding from the Government of Canada’s Student Work Placement Program, they provide subsidies for businesses of any size, all across Canada, to hire students in tech-immersive roles
For more information: https://technationcanada.ca/en/future-workforce-development/career-ready-program/
To learn more about other SWPP programs, visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/student-work-placements-wage-subsidies.html
Other Subsidies
Below are other wage subsidies, awards and tax credits to help with your hiring.
Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) provide wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees, to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years.
For more information: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/funding/canada-summer-jobs/overview.html
The United Nations Association in Canada is building on 20+ years of success through its Green Spaces programme, designed to provide Canadian youth with 4-month experiential learning opportunities in the green economy.
For more information: https://www.unac.org/green-spaces
Small or medium‑sized Canadian business pursuing technology‑driven innovation may be eligible for financial support from NRC IRAP. Funding is eligible to firms under their technology innovation projects and youth employment strategy programs.
Connect with NRC IRAP by calling 1-877-994-4727 to find out if your business is eligible.
For more information: https://nrc.canada.ca/en/support-technology-innovation/financial-support-technology-innovation-through-nrc-irap
The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) annual awards support hiring a university student in workplaces such as provincial government offices, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private companies, Indigenous communities, and Crown corporations pursuing climate change mitigation and adaptation research, planning or implementation.
For more information: https://pics.uvic.ca/programs/internships
Scientific Research and Experimental Development provides a 10 percent tax credit to qualifying corporations--claimed when filing the T2 Corporation Income Tax Return.
For more information: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/income-taxes/corporate/credits/scientific-research-development