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Employers can hire a co-op student for a work term of 12-16 weeks. You’ll receive a subsidy of $8.00 an hour ($9.50 if the student is a member of designated diversity group) for the wages you pay the student. 32 week terms are available in some education programs – please confirm with the Co-op Coordinator at the post-secondary institution.

Contact: yepinfo@gov.ns.ca   |   902-424-6000   |   1-800-424-5418

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Who qualifies?

Employers:

• Must be a registered business in Canada (provincial and territorial governments are not eligible)
• May hire students in any program; however, students must be Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or have refugee status
• Must be hiring for Net New* positions (Net New positions are over and above what employers have hired previously. However, this requirement is waived between May 25, 2020 and March 31, 2021 due to COVID-19).

Students:

• Must be enrolled full-time at a post-secondary institution
• Must be a student in STEM or Business

How does it work?

The SWPP program is delivered by a group of employer delivery partners who work with businesses and post-secondary education institutions to coordinate wage subsidies. A limited number of funding opportunities exist each year and are allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

Please contact any of the most applicable partners to learn more about their available funding and application timelines.

Eligible students must have been registered full-time students during the previous academic term with the intention of returning to their studies during the next academic year. Students must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents and legally entitled to work in Canada.

Not-for-profits may be eligible for 100% coverage of provincial / territorial adult minimum hourly wage. Public and private sector employers are eligible for up to 50% of the provincial / territorial minimum hourly wage.

Availability: summer ()

Application deadline: Late January

More information:

Emerging Now is intended to encourage and support Nova Scotia small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve productivity and make advancements in manufacturing modernization by hiring ¹û½´ÊÓƵ University co-op students from select programs, including Engineering, Computer Science, and other related STEM disciplines.

Eligible SMEs will receive the opportunity to hire ¹û½´ÊÓƵ students who will participate in organizational productivity improvement and modernization initiatives. Ideally, regional SMEs will employ ¹û½´ÊÓƵ co-op students for three work terms over a 12-month period to maximize the impact to their operations. 

Program structure:

• Up to 24 positions per year are expected
• Approved companies are eligible to receive wage assistance up to 2/3rds total salary to a maximum of $20/hour (based on 40 hrs/wk to a maximum of 16 weeks for each work term)
• Companies/firms must pay a minimum of $15.00/hour based on a 40-hour work week

To be eligible for funding, firms must:

1. Be involved in manufacturing/production of goods
2. Be based in Atlantic Canada
3. Be considered a small or medium-sized business
4. Be exporting, actively developing an export market, or be planning to export goods outside of Canada
5. Be recognized as a high or potential high growth company in manufacturing/production
6. Employ ¹û½´ÊÓƵ Co-op students who are in good academic standing and are eligible to participate in ¹û½´ÊÓƵ's Co-op program, from Engineering, Computer Science, and other related disciplines.
7. Subscribe to and uphold the responsibilities required by SITE Coop's Employer agreement
8. Companies/firms operating in the employer sectors of a) retail/wholesale; b) real-estate; c) government/government services and services of a personal or social nature are not eligible

Application instructions:

Applications will be accepted on  (log-in required). If you do not already have a myCareer employer account, please select "employer registration" on the right-hand side of the myCareer home page.

Once logged-on, select "SITE Co-op/ARCH PLAN Co-op" in the left-hand navigation pane, and then select "Emerging Now" in the same navigation pane.

Who can apply

This program is available to businesses with up to 500 employees operating in Nova Scotia. Businesses must have a direct connection to the energy sector.

Employers must provide work experience that’s directly related to the student’s field of study. Work term positions must pay at least the legal minimum wage, plus 4% vacation pay.

Larger local companies may be considered for the program if funding levels allow. Before you apply, read the application package to make sure your business is eligible.

If you have questions about the program or the application, contact the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines at energytraining@novascotia.ca and 902-424-5447.

Employers should be incorporated Canadian small-medium sized enterprises with no more than 500 employees.

The project should deal with research related to science and technology with the goal to enhance your company's innovative capability.

Students must be Canadian citizens, landed immigrant or hold a valid work permit and enrolled in a full-time program.

Availability: ongoing

Application deadline: projects must be individually proposed to NRC IRAP

Contact: 902-426-1624   |   1-877-994-4727

More information:

More information:

Eligible employers can hire students for terms of 8-14 weeks in the summer. You’ll receive a subsidy of $9.10 per hour ($10.10 if the student is a member of designated diversity group) for the wages you pay to your student employees. Students must work at least 240 hours during their work term. The program will reimburse up to 525 hours.

Availability: Apply between 15 December 2022 and 31 January 2023.

Contact: 902 424-6000

More information:

Who can apply

This program is available to businesses with up to 500 employees operating in Nova Scotia. Businesses must have a direct connection to the energy sector.

Employers must provide work experience that’s directly related to the student’s field of study. Work term positions must pay at least the legal minimum wage, plus 4% vacation pay.

Larger local companies may be considered for the program if funding levels allow. Before you apply, read the application package to make sure your business is eligible.

If you have questions about the program or the application, contact the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines at energytraining@novascotia.ca and 902-424-5447.

GTO Grow

GTO Grow is for Nova Scotia employers looking to hire a recent graduate into a new, permanent, full-time position that pays at least $37,500 a year.

Employers receive 25% of the first year's salary and 12.5% of the second year's salary.
Employers can be from any sector and hire graduates for jobs related to their field of study.  

You can apply for the subsidy if you fall into any of these categories:

• a small business with fewer than 100 employees 
• a start-up company incorporated within 2 years of the application date
• a social enterprise, non-profit organization or registered charity with recognized standing

GTO Innovate

GTO Innovate is for Nova Scotia businesses looking to hire a recent masters or PhD grad for an innovation-focused job that pays at least $60,000 a year. 

Eligible employers receive 30% of the first year's salary and 15% of the second year's salary.

At least half of the new graduate's time must be spent on innovation-based activities like:

• applied research
• product and service development
• market analysis for new complex products or activity
• improvement of product quality, customer services and business efficiencies
• process development or improvement
• technical feasibility studies and pilots for product launches or market entry

For GTO Innovate, you must operate a for-profit business that has no more than 200 full-time employees.

Additional subsidy 

Both GTO Grow and GTO Innovate provide an additional 10% in subsidy in year 1 if the employer hires a graduate that self-identifies as Mi'kmaq or Indigenous, African Nova Scotian, a visible minority, a person with a disability, member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, a woman in an occupation where they are under-represented or an international student.

More information: 

Connect with Marie Hogan mhogan@mitacs.ca to learn more about current funding opportunities.

Canadian businesses conducting research and development in the areas experimental development, applied research, basic research and support work may qualify.

Deadline: At least three (3) weeks prior to the start of the work term.

Contact: 902-426-2386   |   1-866-433-5986

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