IRAP Youth Employment Program

Overview of the IRAP Youth Employment Program program:

The NRC IRAP Youth Employment Program is a funding opportunity offered by the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). This program provided financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them hire young graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The aim was to enhance innovation and research and development (R&D) capacity within Canadian businesses by integrating fresh talent into their teams.

Benefits of the IRAP Youth Employment Program program:

• The Youth Employment Program offers financial assistance to offset the cost of hiring young talent to work on projects with:
  • R&D
  • Engineering
  • Multimedia
  • Market analysis components
  • Develop a new product or process
• 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

Eligibility criteria of the IRAP Youth Employment Program program:

• To be eligible for financial assistance through our youth employment program, your business must be:
• A small or medium-sized business (500 or fewer full-time equivalents)
• Incorporated and for-profit
• Ready to enhance your innovation capacity and willing to partner with NRC IRAP
• 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:
• 15 to 30 years of age at the start of the internship
• A post-secondary graduate
• A Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or person granted refugee status in Canada
• Legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial legislation and regulations
• A first-time participant in a Youth Employment and Skills Strategy work experience program targeted at post-secondary graduates