2026 Mitacs Business Strategy Internship (BSI) (Rolling Deadline)

Eligibility

The Business Strategy Internship (BSI) program is offered in partnership with Mitacs’s academic partner institutions. Interested applicants should read through the criteria below to ensure they are eligible for the program before applying through the Registration and Application Portal (RAP).

All projects 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. The project must 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.

BSI projects must take place in Canada with Canadian partner organizations. 

Mitacs offerings are available to our Canadian member and participant postsecondary institutions.

This program requires three core participants: an eligible intern, an eligible academic supervisor and an eligible partner organization.

Academic supervisors

• Academic supervisors are eligible if they are faculty at a Canadian academic institution who are eligible to hold Tri-Agency funds.

Partner organizations

• Partner organizations can be for-profit corporations (must receive more than 50% of their funds from non-government sources), eligible not-for-profit corporations, municipalities, or hospitals in Canada.
• For-profit businesses and not-for-profit corporations operating outside of Canada are eligible as additional partners on projects with a Canadian partner organization.
• Eligibility can be confirmed with a Mitacs Advisor.

Intern

An intern can be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, international student with a student visa, or international postdoctoral fellow with a valid work permit. Interns must be 18 years old or over, and fall into one of the following categories:

• Registered students and postdoctoral fellows at Mitacs partner colleges and universities in Canada. Postdoctoral fellows are eligible if the date of graduation from a PhD program is less than five years to the start date of the project. Exceptions are available for extenuating circumstances such as parental leave or military service. Fellows must not have been employed full-time at the partner organization prior to applying.
• Recent graduates (must be within two years of graduation at the start of their project), and non-degree students (diploma, certificate, etc) are eligible at the academic institution’s discretion. (Any interested applicants should check with their institution to first determine whether they are able to support other types of university interns before drafting an application.)
• Visiting students and researchers at Canadian academic institutions who are completing a degree at a university abroad may also be eligible at the discretion of the Canadian institution.
• How many internships can one intern do?
  • Post-secondary students are eligible for any number of internships at the discretion of their institution. Interns must be enrolled as a student at an eligible institution throughout the course of the internship and have time in their schedule to commit to the project.
  • Postdoctoral fellows can do up to nine (9) four-month internships (up to three (3) years)
  • Recent graduates can complete up to three (3) four-month internships within two years of their graduation date
  • Interns may not participate in more than one internship at the same time.

Further, all parties must declare any potential conflicts of interest upon application submission, including:

• An academic supervisor in a position of ownership, employment or influence over operations at the partner organization.
• An intern is in a position of ownership, employment or influence over operations at the partner organization.
• Programs participants with a close family relationship with each other, or with someone in a position of ownership employment or influence at the partner organization.

Interns may interact remotely with an international partner organization.

Summary

Please be advised that the Business Strategy Internship has limited availability. You are encouraged to contact your local Mitacs Advisor before drafting your application.

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 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.

Funding

The BSI program provides an award of $10,000 per intern per four- or six-month internship, 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. The minimum intern stipend for all units is $10,000 and the minimum partner organization contribution is $7,500. 

For information on eligible expenditures, please review our Use of Funds policy. 

How to Apply

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.
• 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 our UCalgary Mitacs Advisors prior to starting an application to ensure that you are eligible for the program:
  
  a. Angelo Nwigwe, MBT Director, Business Development – Calgary/Lethbridge M: 403.836.6708, anwigwe@mitacs.ca

  b. Annie Hoang, MSc, Business Development Specialist, Calgary, Ph: 403-462-7550 ahoang@mitacs.ca

Digital application process

Once you have confirmed all participant’s eligibility with your Mitacs advisor, you’ll be ready to prepare and submit an application through Mitacs’s Registration and Application Portal (RAP).

Please watch these videos for detailed instruction on how to use the platform.

Kindly note when before preparing your application that:

• 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.

Submission Checklist

Requirements for all projects

• The description of the why (background), the what (objectives), the how (approach), and the when (timeline with deliverables)

Requirements for all collaborations

• Objectives must be aligned with the knowledge, skills, expertise and needs of all involved.
• Each party’s roles and responsibilities must be clear to all signatories on the application.
• Each party’s expectations on deliverables, priorities, and time sensitivities must be clear to all signatories on the application.
• Agreement on intellectual property rights, ownership, and royalties must be clear to all signatories on the application.

Requirements for all internships

• A structure is in place to provide academic support that is appropriate to the level of the intern(s).
• There must be sufficient support / supervision from the internship host.
• There must be sufficient capacity at the internship host to manage the planned number of interns.

Requirements for all projects involving Indigenous peoples or communities

• These must have the support of the affected communities and those who have rights or a stake in the endeavor.
• Indigenous communities should have been involved in shaping the project from inception, and Elders and Knowledge holders should have been directly engaged.
• There must be clear agreement on Indigenous communities’ access, use, and governance of resulting knowledge and data.
• The project team must demonstrate the capacity to engage with Indigenous communities or partners in line with appropriate guidelines, principles, and policies. For more information please refer to our Indigenous Research Guidelines.

Please note: Applications may be subject to review by Research Security. If you have any questions please contact researchsecurity@ucalgary.ca.