Eligible students have two options for involvement with the Mitacs BSI funding. Students may review job postings in the Experience Hub that have been posted by Mitacs BSI eligible employers or may bring forward an opportunity for consideration of Mitacs BSI funding.
Employers may apply for either $10,000 or $15,000 in funding for the internship. Regardless of funding level VIU MBA internships must not exceed 16 weeks in length.
Eligibility Requirements
Students must:
- be a registered active MBA graduate student at a Vancouver Island University
- not be a currently participating in another Mitacs funded program
- must be legally eligible to work in Canada. For international students this means that you must have a current valid internship work permit prior to starting your internship
Responsibilities and Steps
- Review Mitacs BSI internship opportunities posted in the Experience Hub and submit application as directed on the posting
- If hired, advise your WIL faculty that you have secured the internship and forward them the name of the organization, the name of your employer and your employers email address.
- Work with your employer to prepare your Mitacs BSI proposal submission .
- Register on the Mitacs RAP portal
- Upon approval of Mitacs BSI proposal upload approved proposal to the Mitacs RAP portal. Instructions on this process can be found on the following video "Submitting your Proposal."
- Create a VIU SRCA ROMEO account
- Submit WTR to the Experience Hub indicating that the position has been approved for Mitacs BSI funding
- Await your Mitacs outcome letter and notification that the Mitacs BSI process is completed and you are approved to start working.
- Update your submitted work term record with the approved start and end dates and await review and approval of submitted WTR.
- Complete internship and all related required assignments
- Submit final internship report to Mitacs RAP portal and academic supervisor
- Review Mitacs BSI student, employer, and project requirements at the Mitacs and VIU Mitacs BSI web pages to determine if your internship is eligible for Mitacs funding.
- Notify your work integrated learning faculty if you intend to explore Mitacs BSI funding with your potential employer.
- Discuss the possibility of Mitacs funding with your potential employer. Refer them to the Mitacs and VIU Mitacs BSI websites for additional information.
- Confirm with your WIL faculty via email when you decide you will pursue a Mitacs BSI internship.
- If hired, advise your WIL faculty that you have secured the internship and forward them the name of the organization, the name of your employer and your employers email address.
- Work with your employer to prepare your Mitacs BSI proposal submission .
- Register on the Mitacs RAP portal
- Upon approval of Mitacs BSI proposal upload approved proposal to the Mitacs RAP portal. Instructions on this process can be found on the following video "Submitting your Proposal."
- Create a VIU SRCA ROMEO account
- Submit WTR to the Experience Hub indicating that the position has been approved for Mitacs BSI funding
- Await your Mitacs outcome letter and notification that the Mitacs BSI process is completed and you are approved to start working.
- Update your submitted work term record with the approved start and end dates and await review and approval of submitted WTR.
- Complete internship and all related required assignments
- Submit final internship report to Mitacs RAP portal and academic supervisor
Getting Paid
Once your Mitacs BSI proposal has been submitted, Mitacs will send an invoice to your employer requesting that they remit their portion of the funds.
Once Mitacs received your employers portion of the funds they will remit the full awarded funding amount to the VIU Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity (SRCA) office for disbursal to the student.
Once the SRCA office at VIU received the funds from Mitacs they will make arrangements with the Financial Services Department at the University to disburse your stipend in equal amounts on a monthly basis. You will receive your first stipend after you have completed your first month of the internship.
Project Requirements, eligibility and completeness
Mitacs will review all applications for project quality, eligibility, and completeness. You will be notified by Mitacs if your application is ineligible or incomplete within four weeks of submitting your application. Please reviw to the submission checklist below for more information on how to submit a successful Mitacs BSI application/proposal.
Mitacs will assess the benefits of the proposed activity based on the following criteria:
- The economic and societal impact of the project
- The development and deployment of talent
- The establishment and support of collaborations.
A project does not need to demonstrate benefits under every category (project, talent, and collaboration) since a weakness in one category can be compensated by strengths in another. However, projects that demonstrate little or no benefit across all categories will not be approved by Mitacs.
Examples of how a project can demonstrate:
- creating or commercializing Canadian technology / intellectual property
- discovering new and broadly applicable knowledge
- enhancing Canadian productivity by developing new and improved processes
- supporting the entry of Canadian businesses into new domestic / international markets
- developing new business models for Canadian companies
- improving public services (e.g. transportation infrastructure, utilities, healthcare) in Canada
- contributing new solutions to community challenges in Canada
- addressing social or environmental issues important to Canadian society
- advancing new approaches to include under-represented groups in the knowledge economy
- working towards a more equal and equitable Canada
- implementing evidence-informed strategies to address a specific challenge
- interns gaining specialized technical skills through access to and training on the use of specialized equipment and facilities
- training interns in research skills
- training interns in interdisciplinary teamwork
- training interns in community-based methodologies
- training interns in entrepreneurial / professional skills through structured activities
- creating opportunities for interns to apply their knowledge / skills and solve industry / real-world problems
- re-skilling / up-skilling interns to pursue new and emerging opportunities in Canada
- placing interns in positions (at Canadian companies or organizations) appropriate to their training / skills
- interns being introduced to new professional experiences / environments / contacts / networks in Canada
- supporting individuals from under-represented groups in the knowledge economy
- bringing people together to solve problems though complementary skills and expertise
- sharing access to data, facilities, instruments for mutual benefit
- exchanging knowledge among academia, industry, communities
- moving tacit knowledge into practice through interdisciplinary teamwork
- supporting long-term relationships among academia, industry, communities
- establishing new collaborations among academia, industry, communities
- attracting foreign investment, talent, and innovative companies to Canada
- creating partnerships with communities that are under-represented in the knowledge economy
- linking Canadian researchers to prominent research groups globally