Frequently asked questions: Digital Skills for Youth

If you are a prospective:

• Intern; If you are a post-secondary graduate looking for an internship, please review the Internship opportunities available through the DS4Y Delivery Organizations.
• Employer; If you are a small/medium business or a not-for-profit (under 500 employees) looking for interns; please connect with relevant DS4Y Delivery Organizations.

The Digital Skills for Youth (DS4Y) internship program aims to equip underemployed post-secondary graduates with valuable training and work experience related to digital skills. These skills will help them improve their employability so they can succeed in the digital economy.

DS4Y opportunities aim to prepare youth to adapt to the major changes expected in tomorrow’s digital workplace, including in emerging areas where the jobs may not yet exist, such as those related to cybersecurity, the automation of knowledge tasks, big data and artificial intelligence, among others.

Through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS), the Government of Canada helps youth make a successful transition to the workplace. DS4Y contributes to the YESS programming by supporting, through wage-subsidy opportunities, youth who are more or less job-ready but who may require a first employment experience and skills development to enter and succeed in the labour market.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) launches competitions for organizations to submit applications to help deliver the program. Successful delivery organizations recruit post-secondary graduates and connect them with meaningful digital internships within small/medium-sized businesses or within not-for-profit organizations. The delivery organizations ensure that interns gain valuable work experience and have access to training.

To be eligible for DS4Y, interns must meet all of the following criteria at the beginning of the internship:

• be between 15 and 30 years old
• be a post-secondary graduate^{Footnote 1} (not required for participants who live in Yukon, Northwest Territories or Nunavut);
• be legally entitled to work in Canada (a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or person who has been granted refugee status)
• self-assess as underemployed (employed below their level of education or outside their field of study or work part time) or unemployed

Individuals on temporary work visas are not considered eligible for internship opportunities at this time.

$10.68 million will be available through the program over the next two years to fund successful delivery organizations. The delivery organizations must demonstrate that they have a strong network of small and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profit organizations ready to provide internships that allow the youth to enhance their digital skills and prepare for and adapt to tomorrow’s workforce. 

Up to $30,000 is available for wage subsidies for interns’ salaries. The $30,000 includes wages, benefits, training, other direct costs and administrative costs.

In addition to on-the-job training, DS4Y allows interns to participate in short-term courses to enhance their digital and soft skills.^{Footnote 1} By taking courses, interns will gain new knowledge and skills that will help them complete their internship and find career-oriented employment. Training should take place during the internship period. Each intern is eligible to receive up to $4,000 for training.

ISED will review applications against program criteria. Recipients are selected through a rigorous process, and each application is reviewed by two separate evaluators.

ISED will advise applicants as soon as possible. The competition should be completed by summer 2023.

Employers are organizations with legal status in Canada that have the capacity to offer internships, including training and support. For the purpose of this program, employers are not-for-profit and for-profit organizations with up to 500 employees.

Employers may include:

• for-profit organizations
• not-for-profit organizations (including voluntary organizations, community organizations, public libraries and foundations)
• municipal governments
• Indigenous organizations (including band councils, tribal councils and self-government entities)
• public health and educational institutions
• provincial and territorial governments, institutions, agencies and Crown corporations

Employers must:

• have the appropriate administrative support and capacity to train and mentor the participants to enhance and maximize the participants’ experience; and
• support the participants by developing and implementing work activities that provide them with a meaningful internship as described in the key performance indicators.

Delivery organizations are entities legally incorporated or registered in Canada and may include:

• not-for-profit organizations (including voluntary organizations, community organizations, public libraries and foundations)
• municipal governments
• Indigenous organizations (including band councils, tribal councils and self-government entities)
• for-profit organizations
• public health and educational institutions
• provincial and territorial governments, institutions, agencies and Crown corporations

Similar to other grants and contributions programs managed by the federal government, the program will have a project management framework with a number of control mechanisms (i.e., regular quarterly reporting due at the end of June, September, December, March and the final report at the end of the program) that will allow for tracking of project progress and funding throughout the project lifecycle.

Eligible activities — delivery organizations

1. Engaging Canadian youth in the development and enhancement of digital skills, including upskilling in cooperation with interns and employers
2. Promoting the program and reaching out to partners
3. Acting as the coordinating body to manage a network of employers for the purpose of providing them with program funding and program oversight, monitoring and support, ensuring that:
   • reporting is timely and accurate
   • internships are aligned with DS4Y goals
   • employers provide interns with the necessary equipment, workspace, workplace-related training and mentoring to fulfill their internship duties and obligations
4. Developing and implementing an open, fair and transparent application process, in accordance with their contribution agreement with ISED, to engage employers and ensure an optimal allocation of youth participants amongst them
5. Collaborating with training service providers that will deliver upskilling opportunities for interns when needed

Eligible activities — employers

The eligible activities by employers will be activities that allow youth to acquire new digital skills, enhance existing ones and apply them in combination with soft skills so that they can successfully transition into the labour market. These activities include:

1. Providing interns with the necessary equipment, workspace, workplace-related training and mentoring to enhance and maximize their experience and fulfill their internship duties and obligations
2. Supporting interns in the development and implementation of work activities to provide them with meaningful work experience and enhance their employability

DS4Y is a non-repayable contribution program where eligible costs are subject to performance conditions that are specified in a contribution agreement.

Funding will be distributed through claims for reimbursement of eligible costs incurred as outlined in a contribution agreement.

The total ISED contribution per internship is limited to $30,000 inclusive of wages, benefits, training, other direct costs and administrative costs. The total contribution per internship also includes administrative costs incurred by the delivery organization.

The total amount per internship available for digital and soft-skills training is limited to $4,000 inclusive of taxes.

Up to $30,000 is available for wage subsidies for interns’ salaries. The $30,000 includes wages, benefits, training, other direct costs and administrative costs.

Administrative costs of delivery organizations will be limited to a maximum of 15% of the contribution. Administrative costs include overhead costs, staff wages (including training and professional development costs), operational costs, travel and other professional fees.

The 15% administration cap applies to the full term of the contribution agreement. Example: If an organization received a two-year agreement valued at $100K ($50K per year) the maximum administrative cost they could claim would be $15K.