Across Niagara, employers can engage students to support business goals, build a future talent pipeline, and mentor the next generation of employees. With five post-secondary institutions and four secondary school boards in the region, there are many ways to bring student talent into your organization—through co-op placements, internships, apprenticeships, or project-based collaborations that address real business challenges. This resource is designed to help employers navigate the landscape of what the school’s call work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities across Niagara. The goal is to connect you with the right institutional partners to meet workforce needs, and provide you insights into the full spectrum of potential human and financial resources available to you for exploring student talent.
Why Work With Students?
Hiring or collaborating with students provides meaningful support while advancing organizational goals. It is an effective option when your business is growing, projects are delayed, staff are stretched thin, or you’re exploring new technologies and seeking fresh perspectives. Students can also help during peak seasons or when permanent staff are on leave.
(Source: Experiential & Work-Integrated Learning Ontario – “How Students Can Help”)
Benefits for Employers
- Bring fresh ideas and creativity into your organization.
- Fill short-term staffing needs while developing future employees.
- Access diverse, motivated talent from multiple disciplines.
- Strengthen your brand among emerging professionals.
- Receive guidance and support from educational partners to ensure success.
(Source: Experiential & Work-Integrated Learning Ontario – “How Students Can Help”)
What Kind of Work do you Need Done?
Most student work opportunities can be grouped into two main categories, one or two students come to you (physically, hybrid, or virtually) for a longer period of time and work for you, or a group of students (10+) work on a project for you over a shorter amount of hours. Both options have different benefits and opportunities to you as an employer. Read more below to learn more about each type of experience.
Student(s) Comes to You
There are several options for you here, including a paid co-op, unpaid internship, and apprenticeship. Generally, students are coming to you for a set number of hours and working alongside you and your team to accomplish tasks that you’ve hired them for. These programs often include wage subsidies and other incentives to participate and pay students for their time. Each program has different hour requirements and commitment lengths. Get in touch with the education institution that best fits your needs to learn more.
Group of Students
Instead of students coming to you, there are several programs (with generally no to low cost to participate) where you would present a challenge to a group of students, and they would work on solving that challenge as a part of one of their courses. This is a great option for those ‘side of the desk’ projects that you just don’t have time for. Students apply their in-class learning to your real world problems. This could be marketing students in a business class, or science students working in a lab, among many other opportunities.
Each of the education institutions across Niagara offer some combination of programs that can provide you with the talent you need. Please click on any of the links below to be directed to the institution that may serve you best. The team that supports employers will be able to give you further guidance and information on what options are available to you, and what funding opportunities you may qualify for.
Education Organization Student Talent Pages
Post-Secondary Institutions
Highschool Boards
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Thank you
This resource is made possible by the determination and engagement of the Niagara Workforce Coalition and its membership. Though multiple conversations around student talent, this project has come to life. In particular, the Workforce Collective would like to thank the following stakeholders from our Education partners: David Cristelli, Niagara Catholic District School Board; Dana Davies, Sheridan @ CCTT; Christina Farrow, Niagara College; Chip Morningstar, District School Board of Niagara; Andrew Liu, Cappa College; Cherie Simms, University of Niagara Falls Canada; & Julia Zhu, Brock University. We would also like to thank our community & industry partners who tested the site before launch for functionality and feedback.