Find available Mentorships & Internships for students with disabilities across Canada – along with some programs available Internationally. Mentorships & Internships will be categorized by federal, provincial, & post-secondary – as well as other Employment opportunities.

Federal | Provincial | Post-Secondary | International | Employment

Federal

• Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities

The Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities is a national program that offers internships to Canadians with disabilities. Interns will have the opportunity to develop their work skills and increase their employability.

This program will offer 2-year internship opportunities in the federal public service to 125 persons with disabilities between 2019 and 2024. The program works with the Canadian Association of Supported Employment (CASE) and employment agencies across the country to identify candidates.

• Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work

CCRW Mission: To promote and support meaningful and equitable employment of people with disabilities. As innovators and agents of change, we build partnerships, develop skills, share knowledge, and influence attitudes.

• Canadian Space Agency

Each semester, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) provides various co-op work terms / internships that will allow you to gain experience in the space industry.

As a Canadian federal organization, the CSA is subject to the Treasury Board of Canada’s Directive on Student Employment.

• Canadian Association of Professionals with Disabilities

The Canadian Association of Professionals with Disabilities is a federally incorporated non-profit dedicated to maximizing the inclusion, job retention, and advancement of current and future professionals with disabilities.

• DiscoverAbility Network

Funded by the Government of Canada and powered by Magnet, a data-rich, job-matching technology platform. Discover Ability is a free online portal and resource that connects businesses directly to people with disabilities.

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Provincial

Ontario

• Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN)

The Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) is a professional network of employment service providers united to increase employment opportunities for people who have a disability.

• Ontario Internship Program

The Ontario Internship Program invests in committed, talented graduates seeking a great opportunity to start and accelerate their careers. It’s a paid developmental opportunity to grow top talent while delivering important public services to the people of Ontario.

• ZeroProject

Community Living Sarnia-Lambton – an NGO registered in Ontario, Canada – operates a variety of programmes supporting employment for people with disabilities. One such programme is Summer Employment Transitions, whereby young people with various disabilities (aged 16 to 29) are placed in corporate summer internships, and are supported by job coaches and paid by their employer.

British Columbia

• Work-Able

Work-Able is a 12-month paid internship with the BC Public Service for recent (within the last 3 years) post-secondary graduates who self-identify as having a disability.

Each year, this unique program provides learning, coaching, and mentorship to employees who face barriers to help them achieve gainful employment.Applicants to the Work-Able graduate internship program have had a range of both invisible and visible disabilities. The focus is put on providing what applicants need to be successful during the application process and on the job, not their disability. Work-Able never asks applicants to disclose their disability.

• Work BC

Discover job options and services designed to support people with disabilities and build your career here:

– Pursue post-secondary education.
– Get funding or assistive adaptations for your education.
– Gain the work experience, job skills and technologies you need to do the job.
– Create or expand your own business.

• AccessWork

AccessWork matches participants with Job Coaches who offer customized support in performing a job search, building strong resumes and cover letters, excelling in interviews, strategizing workplace supports, and learning communication, time management, and self-advocacy skills. Participants attend blended online and in-person workshops and receive optional on-site job support. Through the programs’ strengths-based, person-centered approach, participants are able to build confidence, achieve greater financial independence, gain optimism about the future, and find opportunities to realize their potential.

Alberta

• Internship for Persons with Disabilities

Apply for 1-year paid government work experience that offers professional development and network building opportunities.

• Youth Employment Partnership

The Youth Employment Partnership bridges the gap between youth and adult employment, creating confident youth who are empowered to be more self-sufficient, creating stronger communities for everyone.

Saskatchewan

• Peer Mentorship Network

SaskAbilities vocational services are designed to help individuals experiencing disability to prepare and succeed in finding and maintaining employment.

Employment preparation is essential to achieving long-term success. Our comprehensive range of vocational services is designed to evaluate skill sets and interests, provide training, and identify employment opportunities. Services are adapted to meet individualized needs and employment goals.

• Adult Mentoring Program

A community-based organization that provides services that support and empower families, children and youth to attain a healthy lifestyle with respect to home, work, education/training, spiritual and recreation.

Newfoundland & Labrador

• Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Independent Living

SET Mentoring: an in-school opportunity that pairs students who face barriers, such as intellectual, social and emotional barriers, with committed, adult mentors. Through this program, mentors will help students explore future career options, community options as well as post -school options. It’s intended to help students transition into the community and/or work place after finishing high school.

Prince Edward Island

• Workplace Readiness Mentorship Program

Easter Seals is pleased to partner with Sun Life to offer two scholarship and mentorship opportunities, to be awarded to two students in Prince Edward Island currently enrolled in the Winter 2022 semester.

Manitoba

• Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities

Employability Assistance for People with Disabilities (EAPD) offers a wide range of employment focused services to assist adults with disabilities in preparing for, obtaining and maintaining employment.

• Employment Preparation Centre (EPC)

Our goal is to assist adults with disabilities to find and maintain employment.

• Aboriginal People With Disabilities Program

The Aboriginal People With Disabilities Program provides assistance to urban Aboriginal people with disabilities with customized services including access to employment or training programs, and referrals to outside agencies in the City of Winnipeg with disability programs and services.

• Thompson Supported Employment Program (TSEP)

TSEP is a Supported Employment Program that provides services to assist persons who have disabilities and/or other barriers to find and maintain gainful employment. This programming is geared towards job readiness, through the provision of workshops and training seminars followed by assistance in finding gainful employment within the community of Thompson with the support of a job coach.

Quebec

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Post-Secondary

• CommunAbility

We believe that individuals with disabilities supporting other individuals with disabilities is powerful and empowering. Our e-mentorship program serves post-secondary education students with disabilities. Students have access to mentors, who are university or college graduates with disabilities, to support them in meeting their goals.

• Dolphin Disabilities Mentoring Day

Dolphin Disabilities Mentoring Day utilizes technology to help bridge the talent, communication and knowledge gaps between business, employment and community supports, and persons with disabilities

• Paid Internships for Students with a Disability (AMI)

Exciting opportunities await students who have a passion to make a difference every day. AMI will provide a challenging and rewarding experience in the Broadcast industry.

Ontario

• Career Mentorship Program

The Career Mentorship Program is a career development option offered by Student Accessibility Services at York University. It is an opportunity for York University students with disabilities to be matched with career mentors to work together to facilitate the career goals of the students.

• AccessAbility Services Peer Mentorship Transition Program

The AccessAbility Services Peer Mentorship Transition Program matches upper year students registered with AccessAbility Services to students who are new to the University of Waterloo and our office. Mentors can share their experience and knowledge of Waterloo campus, to help students who are new to AccessAbility Services adjust to university in their first year. Through sharing their firsthand knowledge of how to navigate post-secondary education with a disability, our mentors help contribute to the successful transition for others who are unfamiliar with the services and supports that are available to them.

• Mentor Volunteer Program (MVP)

The Mentor Volunteer Program was created to assist mainly first-year students with disabilities make a successful transition to post-secondary. The mentors provide academic support and facilitate the mentees’ adjustment to university life.

• ACT to Employ (Accessible Career Transitions)

Together, ACT and ACT to Employ provide career support to Carleton students with disabilities.
ACT assists students in career planning and career readiness, including career decision making, job readiness training, career documentation preparation, disclosure discussions, and interview preparation.
ACT to Employ assists in building capacity with our employer partners, demonstrating the potential of students with disabilities, and creating ongoing employer relationships while providing students with hands-on experiential learning opportunities to increase their employability skills, network connections, and confidence.

• Adaptive Program

The Adaptive Learning Program is for adults with physical and developmental disabilities who want to prepare for independence, competitive employment or volunteer work in the community. Students participate in on-site work settings to gain job skills, in addition to transferable essential skills. Possible work sites include the coffee shop, resource/copy room, greenhouse and thrift store. Students may then make a transition to an employment support program in the community.

• T.A.S.T.E. (Take a Student to Engage) Mentoring Program

The objective of this bite-sized mentoring is to provide York Students and new graduates with an opportunity to virtually connect with professionals in their field of interest.

This program pairs students and new graduates with a mentor for one informational interview. During the meeting, the mentor shares information about their job, industry, and organization, and students get the opportunity to ask questions, receive guidance, and gain industry insights.

• Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Mentorship Program (AMP)

The AMP was created to assist students develop a sense of belonging and peer group, to support students as they navigate university life, and provide a coach to talk through difficulties that the student may be experiencing.

Students participating in the AMP have been diagnosed with an ASD, most commonly Asperger syndrome (AS). Students from all levels of university are invited to participate in the program. The two main components of the AMP are individual meetings and group events.

Quebec

• OSD Mentor Program

The OSD’s Peer Mentor Program is designed to enrich the university experience of our diverse student body. Our goal is to facilitate access to learning and support the inclusion of students throughout all stages of their university career. The program aims to ease the transition to university life while also supporting students as they build and develop their own networks and skillsets. The OSD Peer Mentor Program empowers students gain new skills and achieve their academic goals.

• Career Mentorship Program For Students With Disabilities

Mentees will be matched with an Accenture Mentor who will provide career mentorship. Mentors will provide career advice and support on any career topic, e.g. choosing a career path, applying to jobs and job interviews. Mentees can also discuss disability and accessibility at work with their mentors, or any other topic that they would like to receive mentorship on.

British Columbia

• CanWork

Through the program, Job Coaches can support participants while on their work sites, helping students master their tasks, achieve independence and contribute to the workplace. As part of this program, participants’ employment readiness will be measured pre- and post-employment. CanWork supports UVic students through delivery of the Introduction to Professional Practice course with added modules to help students further their understanding of rights, accommodations and disclosure. 

• Diversity Mentorship Program

The UBC Department of Psychology’s Diversity Mentorship Program aims to prepare and mentor students from diverse, under-resourced, traditionally underrepresented, and/or marginalized backgrounds for graduate admissions in psychology. This program is geared towards advanced undergraduates or recent graduates who are interested in applying for research-oriented graduate programs in psychology.

Alberta

• Accessibility Work Experience Program

The Accessibility Work Experience Program (AWEP) is a wage subsidy program for employers to hire U of A students or alumni with disabilities. AWEP also provides employment support to students applying for a job through the program. 

Saskatchewan

• Access to Education and Employment

New Start assists people with disabilities and newcomers to Canada to overcome barriers to employment and develop the skills they need to find meaningful employment.

Prince Edward Island & Newfoundland

• Access Ability

Access Ability is an employment wage subsidy program funded by Service Canada and facilitated by the Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre. We are a participant focused program, dedicated to providing inclusive hiring through federal wage subsidies to employers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

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International

• Job Accommodation Network (JAN) – American

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on job accommodations and disability employment issues.

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Employment

• MentorAbility

A national initiative promoting employment of people who have a disability in communities throughout Canada. MentorAbility is a full- or half-day mentoring experience for which job seekers who have a disability are matched with individual Mentors to explore career opportunities.

• PATH Employment Services

PATH is a non-profit agency that has been helping people with any kind of disability get and keep jobs since 1972. Disability is often a misleading and misunderstood term and we encourage you to appreciate that our focus is on the skills, talents, qualifications and, truly, the abilities of the individuals we work with.

• JVS Toronto

We specialize in working with individuals with learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), developmental disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), mental health issues, physical challenges and more. Our targeted employment and volunteer programs unlock your abilities so you can reach your potential at work.

• Supported Employment and Education Program (SEEP)

The Supported Employment and Education Program (SEEP) is a customized job search and education program that provides individualized job search assistance, marketing, job coaching and support, and educational assistance and support.

• AnyCareer.ca

The anycareer.ca website gives those who self-identify as living with a disability the opportunity to receive employment and self-employment assistance from the convenience of home. Apply online to gain access to valuable resources and your own personal coach.

• CareerEdge

Eliminating barriers to employment by connecting Canadian employers to job seekers through a paid internship model that effectively lays the foundation for Canada’s future workforce.

• WORKink

WORKink™ provides a dedicated space for job postings by equity employers* offering inclusive employment.

• CareerLauncher

Career Launcher helps highly skilled students and grads transition to future-ready employment. Our programs give job seekers access to training and meaningful employment, and employers access to subsidies for training and salary costs.

• Specialisterne

MISSION: To enable 25,000 meaningful jobs for Canadians on the autism spectrum and with other neurodivergence. 

FOCUS: To help Canadian businesses increase the neurodiversity of their workforce through the adoption of more effective methods for candidate recruitment, selection, onboarding, employee education, and management.

If you are an inclusive employer or an individual with a disability looking for employment, head to our Job Talk/Job Opportunities,  Job Search Tools, and For Employers pages.

• Saskatchewan Indian Training Assessment Group (SITAG)

SITAG is a network of Tribal Councils and Independent First Nations that provides employment development opportunities to First Nation people living in Saskatchewan

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