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Hire a college intern and get up to $5,000 in funding
Bonny Koabel
Here’s how to take advantage of this win-win opportunity
If your company is looking for assist-
ance you might want to consider hiring
an intern from a college or university
co-op program, as the federal govern-
ment offers funding for giving these
students valuable on-the-job work
experience. Post-secondary co-op pro-
grams require that the student get
practical experience in their field of
study to complete their degree. Paid
internships are a win-win situation for
both parties – the student gets valu-
able work experience and receives
credits from the college or university
for their work placement, and the
employer gets the assistance they
need at a reduced cost.
If you are interested in using student
interns you must provide the student
with a job placement in their field in
order to qualif y for funding. For
example qualifying job positions for a
a Business co-op student include work-
ing in an accounting department
assisting with clerical work, or an Inter-
net marketing position assisting with
website design or email campaigns, or
an inside sales position since it relates
to their field of study. The Business co-
op student would not receive college
or university credit working in a ware-
house packaging products for shipping,
or operating a digital printing machine,
since this job experience is not related
to their field of study.
Which students qualify?
Not every post-secondary intern quali-
fies for funding. If you find an intern that
you are interested in hiring, you should
contact the college or university they
attend to make sure that you will
receive funding for paying the student
during the internship.
If a student qualifies for funding, once
they begin their internship they will pro-
vide you with a Letter of Certification
that you will need to support your claim.
30 | November 2017 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE
The Letter of Cer tif ication must
contain:
• the name of the student
• the name of the employer
• the name of the educational
institution
• the start date and end date of
their work placement
• the name/discipline of the quali-
fying co-operative education
program
If you are looking to hire a post-second-
ary co-op student here is a list of some
of the colleges and universities in
Ontario that offer Internships that qualify
for funding:
Colleges
•
•
•
•
Centennial
Fawshawe
Niagara
Seneca
Universities
•
•
•
•
McMaster
Ryerson
Waterloo
Wilfred
Laurier
Employment requirements
In order for the Internship to be a quali-
f ying work placement, the work
placement must meet all of the following
conditions:
• the student must perform
employment duties related to
their field of study
• the work internship must be
pre-approved by the student’s
school
• the internship must be for a
period of at least ten consecu-
tive weeks, except in the case
of an internship program, where
the placement cannot be less
than eight consecutive months
and not more than 16
consecutive months
• the company must agree to
supervise and evaluate the job
performance of the student
• the school must monitor the
student's performance in the
placement
• the school must certify the
internship as a qualifying work
internship
• the student must be paid for the
work performed
What amount of government
funding could I qualify for?
If you hire a college or university intern,
your company qualifies for two types of
funding:
1. Co-operative education tax
credit – The credit is equal to
an eligible percent-
age (25% to 30%) of the eligible
expenditures incurred by the
corporation for a qualifying
work placement. The maximum
credit for each qualifying work
placement is $3,000. A com-
pany can hire multiple interns
at once, and qualify for funding
for each intern.
Also, if your company has hired and paid
a qualifying post-secondary intern with-
in the last three years, your company
may apply for the tax credit
retroactively.
2. Hiring Grant - In addition to the
tax credit, an Employer may
apply for a Hiring Grant for hir-
ing summer students. The
Hiring Grant only applies for the
period of May 1st to August 31st.
Employers need to apply to for
the Hiring Grant in March in
order to receive funding.
Bonny Koabel CPA, CGA is President of
AKR Consulting Canada a Mississauga,
ON firm specializing in Government
Grants, Subsidies, Tax Credits, Refunds
and Rebates since 2003.
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