Grants and Funding Opportunities

Hiring incentives and grants

Community partner employers can access up to 50% of the total cost through UBC Okanagan-specific funding for international students, $5,000 per co-op student hire, or 50% of the total cost through the Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) federal funding for domestic students.

We recognize navigating hiring grants can be a challenge. We’ve built a guide that outlines information on the various grant providers and their eligibility criteria.

The following are a few current programs available within Canada:

International Student (ISI) Co-op Hiring Grant

The International Student Co-op Hiring Grant, is unique to UBC and the Okanagan campus,  providing up to $5,000 to qualifying community partner employers to subsidize the cost of hiring, training and integrating International undergraduate co-op students from UBC Okanagan, in relevant experience with organizations within Canada.

Funding is competitive and applicants are encouraged to apply early.

Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) Hiring Grants

This Government of Canada program offers these grants as wage subsidy covers 50% or up to $5,000 of a co-op student’s salary. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) works with Employer Delivery Partners that represent the interests of employers in various industries and sectors.

If the student identifies themselves as coming from an underrepresented group the wage subsidy will cover 70%, or up to $7,000 of the co-op student’s salary. Underrepresented groups are defined as: visible minorities, women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), Indigenous students, students with disabilities and newcomers to Canada.

As programs have limited funds and can fill up quickly, we recommend submitting your application(s) early to the applicable employer delivery partners.

If you would like any additional information around eligibility requirements for the SWPP wage subsidies, please view our funding guide or connect with us.

Other funding resources

You may be eligible for other funding resources, be sure to review the Association for Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning’s (ACE WIL) funding page.