Propel Student Work Placement Program

Program Description

Wage subsidy for tourism and hospitality employers hiring post-secondary students for work-integrated learning placements such as co-ops and internships. Employers are reimbursed 50% of the student's total gross wages, up to $5,000 per placement. Tourism HR Canada delivers this on behalf of the Government of Canada's Student Work Placement Program, and only businesses in or serving the visitor economy can access it.

Eligibility Requirements

• Employer must be a registered Canadian business, startup or not-for-profit related to the tourism and hospitality sector, and/or the role must relate to a tourism/hospitality job function
• The visitor economy includes five industry groups: accommodations, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation, and travel services — which covers events, concerts, meetings and conventions, museums, galleries, cultural and heritage sites, destination marketing and tour operators
• Student must be domestic — a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or a person to whom refugee protection has been conferred — and legally entitled to work in Canada under the applicable provincial or territorial law
• Student must be registered at a recognized Canadian post-secondary institution in a program that includes a work placement / work-integrated learning component
• Student must be hired as an employee of the company, not as an independent contractor
• The placement must be a full- or part-time work-integrated learning opportunity of at least 20 hours a week and at least 4 weeks
• On-site, remote and hybrid placements are all eligible
• The placement must not be funded by other federal grants or programs
• The employer cannot hire an immediate family member unless a clear, transparent and fair nepotism policy is in place
• The student cannot replace a displaced worker or fill a role left vacant due to a labour dispute
• The placement must take place in a safe environment
• As of April 1, 2026, the net-new rule applies only to businesses that employ 100 or more full-time employees
• Employers subject to the net-new rule must demonstrate a projected increase in the number of paid work-integrated learning students hired above their baseline year
• An employer may hire multiple students, provided it has sufficient resources to give each one a meaningful work-integrated learning experience
• 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
• 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
• Post-secondary institutions are not eligible as the employer of record