There’s never a time quite like the present. Employers now have access to the best and brightest talent from post-secondaries filled with the latest knowledge in sustainability, STEM, and environmental practice.
Now, more than ever before, it’s a jobseekers’ market. Young people seeking internships have a range of opportunities. So how can you differentiate your business and attract the best internship candidates?
More than a Job
Offering an internship is more than giving someone a job – it’s giving them a head start towards a bright career. Millennial and Gen Z workers actively seek meaningful jobs that align with their interests and values. If they’ve applied to one of your positions, great job! Your company values must be attractive already!
Finding the best of the best candidates in a hot job market will take more than a job offer and a paycheque. You can set yourself apart and offer more than the average internship without absorbing high costs.
Offer Training and Professional Growth Opportunities
If you’ve leveraged wage subsidy programs from ECO Canada to hire your intern, you can also access funding to provide them with skills training and professional development.
If your interns of today become your employees of tomorrow, getting them up to speed on the latest and greatest skills as early as possible in their career with your organization is a great way to get a head start on employee development. – ERC
Your internship funding comes with flexible options to offer training to help you stand out as an employer who cares about prospective employees’ career growth. Think about it, if you were an intern and had multiple job offers on the table, you’d likely choose the one that offers the most incentives – like training!
It might be easy to think of interns as a short-term investment, but the statistics around retention are surprising.
According to Randstad, 40% of full-time employees start with a company’s internship program. Research by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that over half of employers had a 5-year retention rate influenced by previous internship positions. Your short-term new hire could develop their career with your organization; investing in their training is a solid long-term play.
Training funding options offered through ECO Canada ensure that you can incentivize new hires and invest in their skills at little to no cost. Funding is program dependent, but many of the ECO Canada wage funding programs offer training either as a portion of total funding or on top of the allocated salary funds. It’s a win/win.
Below is a breakdown of how participating employers have used training dollars.
| Company | Wage Funding Allocated (up to $25,000) | Training Funds Used (percent of the max amount, e.g. $1,000) | How Training Funds were Used |
| Sustainability Leadership Program | 100% | 87% | Used the FULL wage funding amount PLUS extra funding for essential skills training and Integrating SDGs into Sustainability Reporting |
| University | 100% | 75% | Used training funds for job-specific training related to amphibian and reptile monitoring |
| Environmental & IT Consultants | 97% | 74% | Employer used most of the salary funds and allocated training to augment interns’ skills with courses in Technical Writing and Communications |
| Water Stewardship NGO | 100% | 100% | Used the training and available wraparound services to purchase their intern ergonomic supports, an essential skills training package, and technical software courses required for the role |
Making the Most of Your Funding
ECO Canada has connected environmental employers and skilled junior talent through wage and training funding programs for over 20 years. Funding for Employment Programs is provided by Natural Resources Canada, Environment & Climate Change Canada, Social Development Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
One of our most popular programs is the Science Horizons Internship.
The program covers wages to hire junior professionals for climate change, environmental protection, and sustainability positions. Eligible roles in this program are related to STEM and include jobs in water and the environment, air pollution, waste management, environmental and wildlife enforcement, etc.
In addition to the salary funding available, employers can get up to $5,000 for wrap-around services and supports to increase employment for youth, of which $1,000 can be used for training.
Additionally, ECO’s other funded employment programs provide training costs as a part of the maximum funding amount. For example, if the maximum subsidy is $25,000, an employer can use up to $4,000 of that for training (e.g. $23k in wages and $2k in training OR $21k in wages and $4k in training).
Finally…providing training and development opportunities to your interns is as critical as ever before. In the fast-paced, social media-driven, online world that students live in, word travels fast! Although training is only one part of determining what their next tweet will be about your organization, it can help you stand out as a great place to work for both interns and future employees alike. – NRC
Investing in training is a great way to attract new talent and find the best and brightest candidates and a way to help with employee retention.
If you want to be seen as an employer that cares about career development, set yourself apart by taking part in our Wage Funding Program, and attract the top-tier talent today!
