Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Student Work Placement Program
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGO11 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Learning, Skills Development and Employment
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) supports the creation of work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities for students of all ages enrolled in any Canadian post-secondary education program at a college, university, or polytechnic in Canada. The Program supports post-secondary students to develop work-ready skills, employers to hire and develop talent, and post-secondary institutions to keep pace with changing on-the-job expectations.
The Program supports two types of work-integrated learning opportunities: 1) work placements which are paid opportunities in a student’s chosen field of study for which the duration generally does not exceed four months; and 2) innovative work-integrated learning (I-WIL) opportunities which are shorter in duration, high intensity, often delivered virtually leveraging new technologies, and offer flexibility of access for students who may otherwise not participate in traditional work placements.
Through the SWPP, employers offering work placements can receive wage subsidies for each placement offered to students. An enhanced wage subsidy is available to employers who offer work placements to students in their first-year or to those from underrepresented groups (women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics [STEM], Indigenous students, recent immigrants, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities). Post-secondary students participating in I-WIL opportunities receive a stipend.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Work Placement Program | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $1.52B |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Renamed from “Student Work-Integrated Learning Program” to “Student Work Placement Program”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2019-20 | Spending $66.7M, against $21.7M in 2018-19 (+208%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: PSE students participate in WIL opportunities | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators dropped: Number of new formalized and sustainable multi-stakeholder partnerships between industry and Post-Secondary Education institutions; Number of new Work Integrated Learning opportunities created for Post-Secondary Education students enrolled in STEM and business programs | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $420M, against $66.7M in 2019-20 (+529%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators added: Post-Secondary Education students participate in Work-Integrated Learning opportunities | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators dropped: PSE students participate in WIL opportunities | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Spending $201M, against $415M in 2021-22 (−52%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Percentage of participating students who report improved skills through a Work Integrated Learning opportunity | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Post-Secondary Education students participate in Work-Integrated Learning opportunities | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators added: Percentage of participating students who report improved work-ready skills through a work placement | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of participating students who report improved skills through a Work Integrated Learning opportunity | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $282M, against $207M in 2025-26 (+37%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2027-28 | Planned spending $174M, against $282M in 2026-27 (−38%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 90% | 2024 | 87% Due to an error at the time of reporting, SWPP actual target should have been 86% (based on 2021-2022 results) and will be adjusted in DP 2025-26 to reflect this target. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 90% | 2025 | 87% SWPP’s target was erroneously established in the past. The right target, based on program’s historical results, should have been 87% instead of 90%. This has been adjusted in DP 2025-2026. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 20,000 | 2022 | 50,054 In addition to the original target of providing at least 20,000 work-integrated learning opportunities, the program was also targeting to provide at least 10,000 innovative work-integrated learning opportunities. Moreover, in response to the economic impacts created by the pandemic, the Government, through Budget 2021, invested an additional $239.8M in the program. This funding supported an addit… | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 40,000 | 2023 | 51,711 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 15,000 | 2021 | — The Program received additional funding, as a part of the COVID-19 comprehensive youth package increasing the SWP targets to 40,000 placements. Actual results including Student Work Placements and additional COVID-19 funded placements will be available in Fall 2021 and will be included in the 2021-2022 Departmental Results Report. | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 10 | 2019 | 10 Actual result: 10 formalized partnerships, 88% of participating employers were SMEs. | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 10 | 2020 | 10 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 2,500 | 2019 | 2,543 In 2018-19, the Student Work Placement Program has supported the creation of 2,543 student work placements, of which 49% have been for students from under-represented groups (women in STEM, Indigenous Canadians, persons with disabilities, newcomers to Canada) and first-year students. | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 2,500 | 2020 | 8,707 | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 87% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $18M | $21.7M |
| 2019-20 | $3.6M | $66.7M |
| 2020-21 | $153M | $420M |
| 2021-22 | $184M | $415M |
| 2022-23 | $205M | $201M |
| 2023-24 | $204M | $202M |
| 2024-25 | $197M | $196M |
| 2025-26 | $207M | — |
| 2026-27 | $282M | — |
| 2027-28 | $174M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $174M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 8 | 9 |
| 2019-20 | 8 | 10 |
| 2020-21 | 43 | 19 |
| 2021-22 | 39 | 20 |
| 2022-23 | 42 | 19 |
| 2023-24 | 37 | 21 |
| 2024-25 | 22 | 20 |
| 2025-26 | 25 | — |
| 2026-27 | 32 | — |
| 2027-28 | 29* | — |
| 2028-29 | 29* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $17,970,718 | $3,584,764 | $0 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $3,585,516 | $27,387 | $27,387 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $152,600,525 | $175,959,276 | $195,928,024 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $183,711,151 | $203,682,017 | $203,732,872 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $204,976,474 | $204,994,890 | $97,722 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $203,771,121 | $119,978 | $119,978 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $196,647,378 | $348,116 | $352,307 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $206,592,017 | $0 | $0 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $282,222,196 | $174,213,973 | $174,420,383 | ||||||||
| Actual | $21,657,178 | $66,688,071 | $419,524,162 | $415,465,692 | $201,399,806 | $202,279,399 | $196,369,226 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
