2024 Mitacs Business Strategy Internship (BSI) Rolling Deadline

Eligibility

Eligibility requirements 

Interns must:  

• be a registered college, undergraduate, graduate student or postdoctoral researcher at a Canadian academic institution 

• not be a current, active participant in another Mitacs program 

• can be from any discipline or faculty 

• Not have exceeded their term limits within the program (3 terms for undergraduate students, 4 terms for graduate students) 

• can be recent graduates (2 years from graduation date) 

• can be part-time students that meet the following criteria: 

• they have student status at the academic institution for the duration of the internship 

• they are covered under the institution’s insurance, the same as full-time students 

• the institution can pay the intern a salary or stipend from the Mitacs grant 

• the intern can commit to the project for the appropriate duration (BSI internships are four months and may be spread over up to six months to accommodate other commitments)  

Academic supervisors must be one of the following:   

• a faculty member at a participating Canadian university who is eligible to hold Tri-Agency funding; or 

• a faculty member or appropriate research staff at a participating Canadian college/CEGEP/polytechnic with a signed Mitacs Funding Agreement 

In addition to the eligible academic supervisors listed on the application, additional academic staff may be involved in the day-to-day management of the internship, including mentoring the intern. This supervision should be described in the text of the proposal. 

Summary

Apply your expertise, gain invaluable real-world experience, and expand your professional network while helping for-profit companies and eligible not-for-profit organizations solve critical operational challenges through the Business Strategy Internship. Open to all postsecondary students and recent graduates no matter the discipline, the collaborative initiative matches talented interns with businesses in need of specialized assistance in order to maximize their resources, improve their processes, and achieve their innovation goals. 

ResponsibilitiesFAQs 

Please be advised that the Business Strategy Internship has limited availability.  You are invited to validate current availability by contacting your local Mitacs Advisor before drafting your application. 

About the program 

In partnership with Canadian academic institutions, Mitacs is pleased to offer the Business Strategy Internship (BSI). The award provides either $10,000 or $15,000 per intern to allow them to undertake a four-month internship project with a partner organization in Canada. Interns will work with their academic supervisor to co-design a project with their partner organization to work on the organization’s innovation activities, helping them improve their products, processes, or services. Throughout the internship, Mitacs provides online professional development courses to interns through our e-Campus, EDGE. 

The BSI program aims to: 

• support innovation to generate knowledge and its transfer between academic and non-academic sectors 

• strengthen the innovation capabilities of partner organizations 

• support the creation and ownership of intellectual property in Canada 

• promote collaboration between sectors by reducing the risk for companies to engage in innovation 

• provide work-integrated learning and professional skills training to increase employability of post-secondary students 

• ensure and promote equitable access by underrepresented groups to foster inclusive innovation 

Innovation projects are expected to lead to change and improvements for the partner and/or community, through exploration, design, and implementation of improvements/efficiencies in business models, products, processes, or service delivery. 

Details 

• The BSI program will provide an award of $10,000 per intern with the full amount of the award going towards intern stipend. The partner organization will contribute $5,000 towards the award. 

• Alternatively, partner organizations can select a $15,000 funding model where up to $5,000 of the funds can be used for eligible project costs (see Funding/Use of Funds section below) or to top up an intern stipend. Any combination of funding is allowed as long as the minimum intern stipend is $10,000 and the minimum partner organization contribution is $7,500. 

• Projects should be designed as four-month internships, however, they can be adjusted to six-month internships to provide flexibility to accommodate the intern’s other responsibilities. 

• Projects will be designed to address one or more business innovation components (i.e., marketing, operations, finance, intellectual property (IP), etc.) dependent on the needs of the organization. 

• Projects submitted to Mitacs will be adjudicated to ensure that the participants meet the necessary requirements and that the work outlined is eligible for the program. 

• Each project will require supervision from a supervisor at the partner organization and an academic supervisor or a point of contact appointed by the institution to oversee the work and the intern. 

• Interns are expected to meet weekly with both supervisors to report on the progress of their project. Virtual meetings are acceptable. 

• Interns and both supervisors will be required to complete an exit survey at the end of the program reporting on project outcomes, skills developed and providing feedback on the program experience. 

• Interns will deliver a final presentation to their supervisors summarizing the work at project completion. 

Application submission 

• Prospective interns and/or academic supervisors apply to the program through the Mitacs Registration and Application Portal (RAP) and complete all sections of the application. 

• All participants (intern, academic supervisor, partner organization) sign off on the application through the RAP. 

• The lead applicant downloads the completed project proposal and ORS sign-off template and sends to the ORS or equivalent office for review and signature. 

• The lead applicant uploads the ORS signature page to the RAP and submits the application. 

Application review (approximately four weeks) 

• Mitacs receives the application and reviews against selection criteria while checking for eligibility and completeness. 

• Partner organizations are invoiced for their contribution upon application submission. 

• Applicants may be asked to revise their project proposal if sections are incomplete. 

Project approval (approximately three weeks) 

• Project start dates cannot pre-date the Approval letter you receive from Mitacs. 

• Once the project is approved and all partner contributions have been received, award funds are released to the intern’s academic institution to be paid out to the intern. 

Project launch to completion 

• Project work should not start until the intern has received the funds from the academic institution. 

• Projects should be four months long, but can be up to six-months. A part-time option for interns is available for 6-month projects, please consult your local Mitacs Advisor 

• Note that projects are limited to two (2) years in duration. Participants are welcome to submit a continuation of the project in a new proposal for remaining project work they’d like to continue. 

Reporting and exit survey 

• All participants (intern, academic supervisor, partner organization) are required to complete an exit survey within 30 days of the project end date. 

• Academic institutions are required to submit a Financial Report to Mitacs once all project funds have been paid out. 

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

How to Apply 

Partner organizations can connect with their local Mitacs Advisor to discuss applying for BSI program funding. 

Interested parties can apply directly through the Mitacs Registration and Application Portal (RAP): 

• The proposal template will be provided through the RAP. 

• You can also download the template for review prior to submission. 

• BSI interns cannot have a Conflict of Interest (COI); projects with intern COIs will not be approved. (BSI interns are not allowed to have any position of ownership, employment, or influence over the daily operations at the partner organization. Interns with close family relationships or intimate relationships with academic supervisors or employees of the partner organization are also not allowed.) 

• Any COIs involving the academic supervisor and the partner organization must be disclosed to Mitacs during the application process and will be reviewed by the Mitacs COI committee. Please refer to the Mitacs Conflict of Interest Policy for more information. 

• If a COI exists, we suggest that you contact the Mitacs Advisor for your region prior to starting an application to ensure that you are eligible for the program. 

When applying through the RAP  

• Please watch these videos for how to apply through the RAP. 

• The project start date listed in your application should be at least six weeks later than your submission date to allow Mitacs the appropriate time to process your application. 

• Your project start date will be confirmed in your Outcome Letter once your project has been approved. 

• If you start a project before receiving funds from Mitacs, you do so at your own risk. Mitacs will not reimburse for work completed prior to receiving funding. 

If you have any questions about the Business Strategy Internship (BSI) program, please email the Business Strategy Internship team.