SMEs & Students Look to Benefit from Canada Summer Jobs Wage Subsidies

Editor’s Note: Details of the Canada Summer Jobs program are subject to change at any time; details on this page were accurate as of the posting date. To learn about current program details, please contact Mentor Works or visit canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/funding/youth-summer-job.

Most Canadians don’t start thinking about summer until late into Q1, however, the Federal Government of Canada is giving business owners good reason to start planning in advance. Once again this year, Service Canada is offering the Canada Summer Jobs program as a way to help small businesses across Canada hire students over the summer semester.

Applications are being accepted from December 19, 2017 to February 2, 2018.

Canada Summer Jobs Program Benefits Canadian SME’s

Through Service Canada, the federal government is offering eligible small business applicants up to half of the minimum hourly wage in their respective province/territory in the form of a wage subsidy. Non-profit organizations can receive up to 100% funding for eligible summer internship positions. This grant for hiring summer interns can be used to fund summer job opportunities for people from the age of 15 to 30 years old who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next year.

Eligibility Criteria for Employers:

Eligible applicants can be a not-for-profit organization, public sector employer, or for-profit business with no more than 50 employees. These include a number of different organizations from chambers of commerce, to public hospitals and unincorporated or incorporated for-profit businesses.

Members of the House of Commons and the Senate, federal government departments and agencies, and provincial/territorial departments and agencies are not eligible for funding.

Canada Summer Jobs Program Benefits Canadian Students

The Canada Summer Jobs program offers youth the opportunity to gain valuable job experience that can help fund their education and/or could lead to part-time work later in their career. Nonetheless, some parents still wonder whether the experience is more beneficial than enrolling in classes throughout the summer months. Last year, McLean’s magazine looked at Statistics Canada’s “Youth in Transition Survey” which examined major transitions in the lives of youth, in particular those between education, training and work. According to the report, researchers found that 15 year olds that had worked summer or evening jobs were better suited for jobs 10 years later at the age of 25. The conclusion made by researchers was that 15 year olds that worked part time jobs got a head start on soft skills, references and learned job search skills.

Eligibility Criteria for Student Interns:

In order to be eligible for the Canada Summer Jobs program, students must meet the following criteria:

• They must be between the ages of 15 and 30 at the start of the employment period;
• Eligible applicants must have been registered as full-time students in the previous academic year and intend to return to school on a full-time basis in September;
• Applicants must be either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a person who has been granted refugee status;
• Participants in the program will be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial/territorial legislation and regulations.

Canada Summer Jobs: Funding Amount

Non-profit employers will be eligible for up to 100% of the provincial or territorial adult minimum hourly wage as a wage subsidy. Meanwhile, public and private sector employers will receive funding of up to 50% of the provincial or territorial minimum wage. Employers may pay employees more than the minimum wage but will not be paid more than 50% of the provincial/territorial minimum. Example:

If a business pays a $16 per hour wage in a province or territory where the minimum wage is $14.00 the Canada Summer Jobs wage subsidy will offer 50% of the minimum wage, which in this case is $7.00. The employer is responsible for the remaining $9.00.

The total amount of funding available to each employer including all MERCs and overhead costs (where applicable) will be $300,000.