Mitacs

Smith partners with Mitacs to support businesses and non-profits through internships for students that focus on organizational innovation capabilities and strategies.

Supporting Businesses and Non-Profits Through Internships

In partnership with Mitacs, Smith School of Business participates in the Business Strategy Internship (BSI) program. Students complete a supervised project as a 4-month paid internship during which they gain valuable experience while the organization benefits from the strategic work accomplished. Internships can be extended up to 6 months, and can begin immediately once a partner organization and student submit a project proposal and have been approved by Mitacs.

“Through BSI, students will be able to contribute to Canada’s recovery and build skills that will be needed in the future. At the same time, the program supports small to medium-sized enterprises and not-for-profit organizations that need assistance to modify or pivot their operations to adapt to the new economic reality.”

John Hepburn
CEO and Scientific Director
Mitacs

About the BSI Program

Past Projects

More than 100 Smith students have helped organizations with projects including:

supporting local and national businesses and non-profits in their Covid-19 response by helping them pivot, generate new strategies, sell products and services more efficiently, and come out of the pandemic stronger than ever before.
working on an organization’s innovation activities, helping them improve their products, processes, or services.

Program Specifics

Projects are $10,000 or $15,000 for 4 months – Contribution of $5000 or $7500 from partners, which is matched by Mitacs.
Partners can choose to extend projects up to 6 months in length – They will need to note this in their application submission. Partners will pay an additional $2500 per month (undergrad) or $3000 per month ( graduate) extension, all of which will go to the student.
Streamlined single approval vs. double approval process – Partners now only need to be approved by Mitacs and not Smith. This will reduce approval time and help your organization hire a student intern faster and more efficiently.

Funding Model & Student Compensation

Option 1: Hiring Undergrad Students

$10,000 Mitacs BSI project ($5000 funding from partner; $5000 matching funding from Mitacs)
Students receive $10,000 stipend over 4 months
$2500/month (undergrad) top up funding (optional) - All top up funds go directly to student stipend

Option 2: Hiring Graduate & Post-doctoral Students

$15,000 Mitacs BSI project ($7500 funding from partner; $7500 matching funding from Mitacs)
Student receives $13,500 stipend over 4 months
10% project expenses (i.e. $1500) will be added to these projects
$3000/month top up (optional) - All funds go directly to student stipend

Applying for Funding

Application process will re-open in April 2025

Process & Eligibility

Partner organizations must be one of the following:

A for-profit corporation in Canada
An incorporated not-for-profit (NFP) organization in Canada
Eligible NFPs include: charities, economic development organizations, industry associations, social welfare organizations, health organizations, foundations, and research centres/institutes.
A municipality
A hospital

Commitments from partner organizations:

Businesses and NFP’s must provide $5000 or $7500 in funding to support an internship
Funding will be matched by Mitacs 1:1 for a $10,000 or $15,000 student internship
Partner organizations must co-submit an internship proposal with a student
Smith will match Project Advisors with approved student projects
Meet weekly with student (virtually ok) to provide guidance, update on progress and plan next steps
Provide a signed copy of the Queen’s Experiential Learning Placement Agreement (ELPA) OR your own NDA/IP Agreement

Details and Next steps:

Use the "Connect with an Intern" form to submit your interest for having an intern work with your business or NFP
You will receive an automated email with steps and links to post an internship at Smith using Quest (our student job board)
You will receive a Mitacs BSI Job Posting template to help structure your job posting
Students will apply to your internship opportunity through Quest
You will receive applications on a rolling basis and can interview and select the student you wish
You and the student will co-submit a proposed project through Mitacs Registration and Application Portal (RAP).
Smith will provide Faculty Supervisor signoff and a letter from Queen’s research services for you upon proposal submission
Mitacs will approve the internship project and then invoice the partner organization. This approval confirms that the project will be funded
All parties (partner, student, Queen's) will sign the Experiential Learning Placement Agreement or NDA provided by partner
The project can then begin

Additional Details

There is no guarantee submitted projects will receive funding from Mitacs for the internship project
For simplicity, funds will be paid to the student via Smith; therefore organizational partners need not set up the selected BSI interns as employees in their organization (i.e. no taxes, EI, CPP, etc. payments required)

For more information, please view the Mitacs BSI landing page.

For any further questions about the program, please contact the Smith Experiential Learning Team at smith.el@queensu.ca.

Connect With an Intern

Submit your information below to receive detailed next steps on how to participate in the Mitacs BSI program.