Host and Mentor an Intern : Expand your horizons, while contributing to the success of a young student.
Vancouver Internships Work and Travel Providers is a private firm which manages the internship and work experience programs for ESL schools, career colleges and university programs around Metro Vancouver. We are always on the look-out for good internship and work experience hosts for our students. We are looking for host companies which can provide a welcoming and supportive environment for our students - we want companies who first and foremost see this as a chance to give back and learn.
We operate two types of programs - each with a different student profile and different host company requirements:
Unpaid Interns
The majority of interns are in one of our unpaid internship programs. These students come from a variety of sources: ESL schools, Career Colleges, Canadian Universities, International Universities. Their programs are full time (up to 40 hours per week) and can go from a minimum of 4-weeks in length, to as long as 6 months. The exact duration depends on their school.
Students join the unpaid internship program in order to earn credits for their school. Their internship goals are usually a combination of using English in a professional setting, trying out a profession before committing to it for the long haul, and building contacts or references for their future career.
Students from the ESL schools and career colleges are often in their mid-twenties, with advanced degrees and several years of experience behind them. Students from the Universities - in Canada or abroad - are usually in their early twenties, and are completing work for their co-op term.
In all cases, we've screened these interns for enthusiasm, for solid and clear internship goals, for English language skills, and for basic workplace skills such as MS Office.
Host Company Requirements (Unpaid)
For some unpaid internship students, this experience will be their first job, for many more it will be their first job in Canada. For this reason, the most important requirement for an unpaid internship host is 'patience'. These students may face a steep learning curve, so they will need time to acclimatize.
Other requirements of unpaid internship hosts are:
- Minimum staff of 5
- They must be located in one of the following cities: Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, or Richmond. Exceptions are made for engineering, bioltech, film, forestry, and petro-chemical host companies, which can be located anywhere in BC or Alberta.
- Must have a commercial office. Unfortunately we aren't permitted to place interns at home offices.
- English must be the primary language spoken in the workplace.
If you meet these basic requirements and would like to host an intern or learn more about the program, please complete the application form on this page.
Once we receive your application form, we'll contact you to discuss your internship needs in more detail. In many cases, we will follow up with a site inspection. Once that is completed, we will add you to our hosting list. When we have a suitable intern for you, we will contact you with their resume, start date, and internship duration info. If you are interested, you are then able to bring the student in for an interview. If they pass the interview we will send you a hosting agreement, and the intern can then start.
Throughout their internship, we will be in contact with you and the student. If there are any issues, please contact us and let us know.
Stipend Interns
A stipend internships are those in which the intern is paid a small weekly living allowance by the host company. The living allowance is treated like a contract fee by your accounting department, and can range from a low of $200 per week, to a high of $350 per week.
Stipend internships are open only to long term students doing long term placements. Students may still come from ESL schools, Career Colleges, Canadian Universities, and International Universities, but they are a very different group than students in one of the other programs. Students in the stipend programs are typically in their late 20's or early 30's - they have several years of professional experience and they speak very advanced-level English. Stipend programs are full time (up to 40 hours per week) and can go from a minimum of 4-months in length, to as long as 12 months. The exact duration depends on their school.
Students join a Stipend Internship Program in order to earn credits for their school. Their internship goals are usually a combination of using English in a professional setting, trying out a profession before committing to it for the long haul, and building contacts or references for their future career.
In all cases, we've screened these interns for enthusiasm, for solid and clear internship goals, for English language skills, and for work experience.
Host Company Requirements
Like in the unpaid program, patience is probably the most important requirement for hosting a stipend intern.
Other requirements of internship hosts are:
- Minimum staff of 2
- They must be located in metro Vancouver (Translink Zones, 1, 2 or 3) - or for hospitality placements, they must be located in Engish-speaking Canada.
- They must have a commercial office. Unfortunately we aren't permitted to place interns at home offices.
- English must be the primary language spoken in the workplace.
If you meet these basic requirements and would like to host an intern or learn more about the program, please complete the application form on this page.
Once we receive your application form, we'll contact you to discuss your internship needs in more detail. In many cases, we will follow up with a site inspection. Once that is completed, we will add you to our hosting list. When we have a suitable intern for you, we will contact you with their resume, start date, and internship duration info. If you are interested, you are then able to bring the student in for an interview. If they pass the interview we will send you a hosting agreement, and the intern can then start.
Throughout their internship, we will be in contact with you and the student. If there are any issues, please contact us and let us know.
