MiHR — Gearing Up (Mining Sector Student Work Placement)
Compared with the 241 other application forms we have read
- Winning means you must carry a named insurance policy. 3 ask that.
- Scored mainly on the jobs it creates for other people. 22 lead with that.
- You have to fund part of this yourself, stated as 30%.
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Eligibility & Details
What this program funds and who can apply
Program Description
Wage subsidy of up to $5,000 per placement for mining and mineral exploration employers who create new work-integrated learning placements — work experience, co-op placements, internships, field placements or applied projects — for post-secondary students. Delivered by MiHR through ESDC's Student Work Placement Program.
Eligibility Requirements
- Small, medium, or large companies in the mining or mineral exploration sector in Canada
- Not-for-profit organizations in the mining and mineral exploration sectors are also eligible; post-secondary institutions are not (since May 1, 2022)
- Net-new rule: only placements above your baseline are subsidised, meaning the number of student placements in the year before you first took part in the federal Student Work Placement Program. MiHR's guide applies this to every employer, with no size exemption; the placement may be a co-op, internship, field placement or applied project
- Placement must be 4–16 weeks minimum at 10+ hours per week
- Student must be enrolled at a Canadian post-secondary institution
- Student must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or protected person
- Apply through the employer portal at portal.mihr.ca before the placement ends
- Financial sector employers with 500 or more employees are not eligible
- Trades and apprenticeships, clinical hours in healthcare and articling hours for lawyers do not count as work-integrated learning under this program
- Subcontract or contractor positions are not eligible, and the placement cannot be filled by a business owner or an existing employee
- Provincial, territorial and municipal funding may be combined with this subsidy, but the subsidy is calculated only on the share of the wage the employer pays from non-government funds
Quick Assessment
Funding Details
- Amount
- Up to $5,000 per placement
- Type
- Grant
- Level
- Federal
- Co-Funding
- Up to 50% of eligible costs
- Deadline
- Rolling within MiHR's fiscal year (April 1 to March 31); 2026-27 intake open; apply before the placement ends
Program Scorecard
Competition, effort, and approval at a glance
Very accessible — simple application
Low competition — good odds of approval
Easy — minimal documentation
How to Win
Insider tips, common pitfalls, and what successful applicants look like
Insider TipApply any time before the student placement ends; applications are not accepted after it has ended.
Rejection Pitfalls 6
- Application submitted after the student placement has ended
Success Profile
Evaluation Criteria
How MiHR — Gearing Up (Mining Sector Student W... judges your application
What the reviewer scores, what gets applications rejected, and what to write.
Distilled from 6+ source documents, condensed into one brief. Sources as of 2026-09-10.
6 of the sources
- Gearing Up - MiHR mihr.ca
- Gearing Up Program Applicant Guide 2026-2027 mihr.ca
- Gearing Up Program Applicant Guide 2026-2027 mihr.ca
- Gearing Up Application - MiHR portal, page 1 portal.mihr.ca
- Gearing Up Employer Portal landing page portal.mihr.ca
- Gearing Up employer agreement - Terms and Conditions portal.mihr.ca
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What MiHR — Gearing Up (Mining Sector Student W... favours
Provide meaningful mining work experience under an experienced mentor◦
“Ensure the work-integrated learning opportunity provides relevant and meaningful work experience in the mining sector under the supervision of experienced staff who act as mentor(s) throughout the work-integrated learning opportunity.”
The form
Phase I: eligibility and net new
- 1Application page 1 - employer screening questionsselection
- 2Application page 1 - SWPP history and planned placements (net new)table
- 3Phase I - preliminary online applicationtable
Phase II: placement details and agreement
- 4Phase II - placement title and job descriptionwritten answer
Placement(s) title and short job description(s) including a description of the key responsibilities the student will be undertaking to fulfill their role.
- 5Phase II - Appendix A: employer WIL opportunity coststable
- 6Phase II - Appendix B: description of the approved opportunity, term and payment schedulewritten answer
Appendix B – Description of approved work-integrated learning opportunity and work term and payment schedule.
- 7Phase II - sign the employer agreementcheckbox
- 8Phase II - participant information form (PIF)short answer
During and after the placement
- 9Mandatory eLearning for the student and supervisorcheckbox
- 10Progress questionnaire during the placementwritten answer
- 11End-of-placement claim (invoice and supporting documents)table
- 12Reporting - how the placement met its objectiveswritten answer
- 13Supervisor performance evaluation and post-placement surveywritten answer
- 14March 31 reconciliation (placements still running at year-end)table
MiHR — Gearing Up (Mining Sector Student W... states no length limits for these answers.
Judged against
- 1
Is this a genuinely new placement?
Show them Work out your baseline and your planned placements so the positions you ask to be funded are the ones above the baseline.◦
In the funder’s words · 2
- Limiting employers (work sites) to a maximum of 10 net new Gearing Up placements during 2026-2027 (max total 30 per employer).
- The employer shall ensure that a participant meets the definition of net new.
- 2
Do the employer and student qualify?
What to show them in Premium
- 3
Who is prioritised when funding runs short?
What to show, and the funder’s 3 criteria behind it in Premium
- 4
Is the work real and mining-relevant?
What to show them in Premium
5 questions the reviewer answers about you, in Premium.
Where applicants fail
“Applications may not be submitted after the placement has ended.”
“Combining a Gearing Up wage subsidy with other federal funding programs is not eligible.”
Premium · the rest of this brief
See all 19 rules that can reject you and every criterion you are judged on. Then we draft your application for you.
15 more rules that can reject you · 3 more criteria · 12 more prompts
Do you pass?
Each one can rule you out. Tick the ones you meet.
Your business
Eligible employer type
Employers must be Canadian-owned or a Canadian subsidiary and involved in the mining and mineral exploration sectors in one of the following categories:
Company of any size
Small, medium or large companies
Not a post-secondary institution
Please note that effective May 1, 2022, post-secondary education (PSE) institutions are no longer eligible employers.
Your organisation
Not-for-profit organisation
Not-for-profit organizations.
Documents to attach
Ticks are kept on this device.
The money
Maximum subsidyup to $5,000; 50% of compensation
An employer is eligible to receive a maximum amount of $5,000 representing 50% of a participant’s compensation for all WIL participants.
Payment timelinePaid within 30 days of approval
Within 10 business days of receipt of an invoice, MiHR shall approve, amend or reject the invoice and advise the Employer promptly in writing of any dispute MiHR has with the invoice. No payment to the Employer will be made until the invoice has been approved by MiHR. Payment will be processed within 30 days of approval of the invoice.
Your share30% for under-represented groups, 50% for others
Contribute at least 30% towards participant’s salary/wages and applicable MERC’s and benefits for under-represented groups and at least 50% for all other WIL participants (note: this must come from other non-government sources)
StackingProvincial funds stack; subsidy on non-government share
Partial provincial, territorial and municipal funds are permitted to be combined with the Government of Canada’s SWP Program, but only funds from non-governmental sources are eligible for subsidy. For example, a position paid with 60% provincial grant funding is only eligible for a subsidy calculated on the remaining 40% of the funds paid by the employer.
Costs before approvalNo applications after placement has ended
Applications may not be submitted after the placement has ended.
What it pays for · 1
- The funding under this agreement is a wage subsidy and shall be used solely to compensate participants employment costs (salary/wage, and applicable MERC’s and benefits) and for no other purposes, including but not limited to the acquisition of goods.
What it does not pay for · 1
- Contract and/or consulting arrangements are ineligible.
From application to money
- Apply in Phase IApril 1 – March 31Preliminary application April 1 – March 31
- Submit Phase IIwithin 30 daysSubmit Phase II within 30 days
- Funding confirmedFunding confirmed after signed agreements received
- Training completedThree eLearning modules done before placement ends
- Claim the subsidySubmit invoice, direct deposit, earnings statement
- Final report and surveyReport outcomes and complete evaluation survey
In the funder’s words · 6
- Apply in Phase I
- Send the preliminary online application through the MiHR employer portal with your job titles and your net-new figures.
- Submit Phase II
- Return the signed employer agreement with Appendices A and B and the signed participant information form.
- Funding confirmed
- Funding will be allocated and confirmed once MiHR has received the completed and signed agreements and participant information forms.
- Training completed
- The student and the supervisor each complete all three mandatory eLearning modules before the placement ends.
- Claim the subsidy
- Submit the invoice with the direct deposit form and an earnings statement or record of employment.
- Final report and survey
- Describe how the placement met its Appendix B objectives and complete the post-placement evaluation survey.
Quoted lines are word for word from the source documents; lines marked ◦ are our reading of them.
Everything you need to win MiHR — Gearing Up (Mining Sector Student W...
Not a marketing summary. The actual checklist, intel, and stack strategy reviewers look for.
- 6 rejection pitfalls reviewers flag — so you catch them first
- 5-document checklist with what each reviewer is actually checking
- Your Application Game Plan — the print-ready PDF the preview below describes
- 6-step application timeline with prep hours per step
- Insider tip from program officers on what separates winners
- 3-program stacking strategy to combine with compatible funding
- Success profile + evaluation criteria — exactly what reviewers score on
Application Playbook
Step-by-step process, required documents, and expenses
Application Steps
Required Documents 5
Eligible Expenses 2
Ineligible Expenses 4
Intake Periods
Deadline Notes
Ineligible Organizations
Funding Stack Strategy
Compatible programs, clawback risk, and combined funding potential
Compatible Programs
Clawback Risk
Low RiskHow MiHR — Gearing Up (Mining Sector Student W... Compares
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