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

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.

Responsibilities FAQs 

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 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.

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

• The proposal template will be provided through the RAP.
• 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.

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

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