Hiring Grant Programs for Recent Grads

By Ryan Weaver
Marketing Specialist

Every spring the Canadian government releases funds that in turn supports dozens of hiring grant programs. These funding for hiring programs offer small to medium-sized businesses up to $20,000 in funding to create new jobs for recent post-secondary graduates.  While it is obviously a great opportunity for small to medium-sized businesses interested in off-setting the cost of hiring new staff; these programs also offer insight into what types of industries and positions the federal and provincial governments are interested in promoting as future growth engines of the economy.
 
Canadian Business Grants for Hiring: What  positions are being funded?

While several industry-specific and position-specific programs exist to fund high-growth sectors like the aerospace, food processing, bio-science, software development, and advanced manufacturing.

Here are some of the positions that funding organizations are most supportive of:

·         Science: scientists from fields as diverse as environmental science, to biologists;
·         Technology: software developers, network technicians, database analysts, and a number of other communications and information technology positions;
·         Engineering: virtually all types of engineering positions from software, electrical and mechanical engineers –whether educated in a 2 year or 4 year post-secondary program.
 
What types of positions are not being funded through Federal Grants for small business?

Positions in sales and marketing, general administrative roles, and positions that do not have correlative post-secondary programs.
 
Employee Eligibility

While additional eligibility criteria exists for each specific program, the following are required to be met for the majority of hiring grant programs:
  • Employees must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or have been granted refugee status,
  • Employees must be 15-29 years of age,
  • Must provide eligible work experience
  • For the majority of programs employees must be a recent graduate of a post-secondary institution (within past 5 years).
Again, while each program is unique in its qualifications the following are the basic criteria must be met for the majority of programs.
  • Most programs employers must have some insurance (types & amounts differ),
  • Most programs a “place of work” is required,
  • Most programs require the position to be full time (i.e. 30 hours+ per week) for a period of between 3-12 months within a defined period of time as outlined in the specific program,
  • Some programs it is required that the business is incorporated,
  • Some programs require on the job training or mentoring.
How can recent grads take advantage of this program?

All of these government funding programs are business-led initiatives, meaning that you hires cannot approach a funding organization directly. However, it might not hurt to let prospective employers know that if hired you could bring in from $12,000 to $20,000 in free money in order to support the cost of your salary.

Use a Hiring Grant Program to Find Your Next Employee

As you look to build up your workforce, there are resources that can help you do it without busting your budget. Here’s one more resource. At Monster, you can start your search with a free job post. Learn more today.

 

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