Science Horizons Youth Internship Program

All 2009/10 placements are filled. No additional funding is available until 2010/11. Please check back in December 2009.

The Science Horizons wage subsidies (up to $12 000) help businesses hire promising young scientists and post-secondary graduates. Businesses must provide participants with hands-on work experience on environmental projects under the mentorship and coaching of experienced scientists and program managers.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible employers are:

• private businesses;
• universities; and
• non-governmental organizations.

Employer Obligations

Employers must:

• recruit and match youth who must be 30 years of age or under and eligible to work in Canada;
• match youth with mentor/coaches (experienced scientists or program managers in the private or public sector);
• try to select youth from employment equity groups;
• assume responsibility of hiring the youth, negotiating the salary, paying the wages and any other approved costs subject to the cost-sharing agreement with Environment Canada;
• ensure that the consent of the youth is obtained to participate in the evaluation/assessment of the program;
• ensure the achievement of project objectives and compliance with the financial requirements of the project;
• disclose to Environment Canada all technical information, inventions, designs, methods and processes and other intellectual property rights related to the project that are conceived, developed or first reduced to practice in the carrying out of the project (collectively, the "Intellectual Property"). All intellectual property shall be the property of the employer or the youth as appropriate. Environment Canada shall have a non-exclusive, unconditional, irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free right to use the intellectual property.
• make available to Environment Canada any models developed and data gathered in undertaking the project;
• ensure submission of a statement of expenditures for the project;
• ensure submission of a final project report by the employer and the youth to Environment Canada by the termination date of the project; and
• assist in securing longer term employment for the youth in the Canadian labour market.

Deadline

2009-05-08

Summary

Financial Parameters

• Science Horizons provides a maximum of $12 000 per placement.
• Employers must provide a minimum of 30% of the eligible cost of the project.
• Project costs must be only those costs associated with the youth's involvement in the project.

Eligible Costs

Eligible costs may include any of the following:

• salaries, wages and related expenses of interns such as statutory employee benefits;
• operating expenses such as travel, training, utilities, materials and supplies, rental of premises, disbursement for research and technical studies.

It is expected that the major cost of any project would be the salary or wages paid to the interns. Central administrative costs ARE NOT eligible costs.

How to apply

Potential employers should submit an application form electronically, by mail or fax for approval by the appropriate Environment Canada contact.

Environment Canada will assess the projects against the following criteria:

• the degree of congruence and relevancy of the proposed project activities to the Science Horizons Youth Internship program objectives and the mandate of Environment Canada;
• the project must provide meaningful work experience for the youth;
• the duration of projects must be from 6 months to 1 year;
• all projects must start on or after June 2009 and terminate by March 31, 2010;
• the employer must provide a minimum of 30% of the project costs;
• a mentor must be identified for each project.

The appropriate application forms and contact information, as well as additional information can be found on the Science Horizons Youth Internship Program Web page.

Manitoba Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
Inquiry Centre of Environment Canada
Environment Canada
Place Montcalm
70 Crémazie Street
Gatineau, Quebec  K1A 0H3
Telephone: 819-997-2800
Fax: 819-994-1412
Toll-free (information): 1-800-668-6767
TTY (hearing impaired): 819-994-0736
E-mail: enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca
Web site: http://www.ec.gc.ca/envhome.html