Contact us
Call us toll-free at 1-877-994-4727 to learn more about NRC IRAP.
Please note the NRC is committed to providing a respectful and harassment-free workplace. No inappropriate behaviour, aggression, harassment, or foul language towards our employees will be tolerated. All conversations with anyone behaving in this manner will be immediately terminated.
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Bring new ways of thinking to your business
Young talent offer fresh perspectives that can fuel innovation. Our youth employment program provides financial assistance to companies so they can hire young talent to contribute to their innovation needs.
- The Youth Employment Program offers financial assistance to offset the cost of hiring young talent to work on projects with R&D, engineering, multimedia or market analysis components or to help develop a new product or process.
The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) delivers this program under the federal government's Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, which aims to help young Canadians get career information, develop skills, find good jobs, and stay employed. In addition to bringing new ideas to your organization, your participation also helps highly skilled young people transition into today's rapidly changing labour market.
How can a young worker help my business?
A student or young graduate hired through this program can work on business, technical, or technology-related projects to help you:
- advance research and development, engineering and multimedia activities
- develop new products and processes
- conduct market analyses for new technology-based products
- support business development related to science and technology activities
- improve customer services
Is my business eligible?
| Eligibility — businesses | |
|---|---|
| Youth Employment Program |
To be eligible for financial assistance through our youth employment program, your business must be:
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Who can I hire under this program?
| Eligibility — youth | |
|---|---|
| Youth Employment Program |
The youth internship will last a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months. The candidate must work a minimum of 30 hours per week. The candidate must also be:
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How can I access the program?
- Talk to our team.
Call us toll-free at 1-877-994-4727 to speak with us. We will ask you some questions about your business to determine if you are eligible, including your business objectives and your capacity and willingness to grow through innovation. - Discuss your needs with one of our industrial technology advisors.
If we determine your development and growth strategies could benefit from NRC IRAP support, we will refer you to an industrial technology advisor (ITA). The ITA may want to meet with you in person to understand your business in more detail — such as your strategy, the issues you're facing, the opportunities you see for growth and your plans for the future — to determine if our youth employment program is right for you. - Develop a project proposal.
The ITA will work with you to develop a project proposal for submission to NRC IRAP. - Find a youth candidate.
Your ITA can connect you with networks to help you find candidates.
After you apply:
You will hear back from us within two weeks whether or not your project was approved. Once approved, you will need to submit monthly reimbursement claims to NRC IRAP.
Please note that these programs cost-share only a portion of the youth candidate's salary costs. You remain responsible for other expenses, including benefits and overhead costs.