The Canadian CED Network is pleased to announce the Call for Proposals for the 8th intake of its CED Work Experience Program, CreateAction! This program is funded by Human Resource and Skills Development Canada. Its purpose is to give out-of-school post-graduate youth, who have a career focus in community economic development (CED), a relevant six-month work experience placement. We are recruiting up to 40 community-based CED organizations to host work experience participants from October 4 – March 18th, 2010 inclusively.
How does it work?
Organizations submit applications to the Canadian CED Network via this website to host a participant. The Canadian CED Network selects the host organizations. The host organizations in turn hire the participants according to job-specific placements.
Eligible work experience placements may include project management, participatory research, communications, social entrepreneurship, business planning, social marketing, CED financing and asset mapping, to name a few. A special focus for this intake will include placements with positive environmental impacts. For examples of CED work experience placements from last year, click here.
The Canadian CED Network requires host organizations to be members of the Canadian CED Network or become members once its application for hosting work experience participants is approved. For information about being a member, click here.
The Canadian CED Network will select the host organizations according to the following criteria:
- relevance of proposed work experience to community economic development (For the Canadian CED Network’s definition of CED, click here)
- whether the proposed placement qualifies as an environmental work experience (e.g. includes Environmental Protection, Conservation and Preservation of Natural Resources, Environmental Sustainability, etc.);
- organizational capacity to assist participants with their daily work, mentoring and career development;
- provincial/territorial and urban/rural diversity;
- track record in hosting work experience placements, students or interns;
- ability to recruit participants from diverse backgrounds.
The Canadian CED Network will give preference to organizations that can successfully recruit Aboriginal participants as well as persons with disabilities.
The Canadian CED Network will:
- manage the CED Work Experience Program;
- employ the participant at $15.00 an hour for a total of 37.9 hours a week, including participant Mandatory Employment Related Costs or statutory benefits;
- coordinate monthly intern teleconference calls to share experiences and to network
- offer major travel and accommodation for provincially diverse participants to attend the national intern gathering October 21, 2010; and
- provide peer learning and mentoring opportunities to the participants related to the National Youth CED Engagement project.
Host organizations will:
- supervise the work experience participant;
- contribute to the work experience participant’s learning opportunities
- allow the work experience participant to spend approximately one day per week to work on their National Youth CED Engagement project;
- Allow the work experience participant to spend a minimum of three days at the national intern gathering October 20-22, 2010.
Participants must meet the following the criteria:
- between the ages of 15 and 30 inclusively at the time of selection;
- a Canadian citizen, or a permanent resident, or a protected person within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
- legally entitled to work in Canada;
- legally entitled to work according to the relevant provincial and/or territorial legislation and regulations;
- out-of-school;
- a post-secondary college or university graduate;
- not receiving Employment Insurance benefits;
- can demonstrate a lack of labour market attachment to field of study (under-employed or unemployed);
- can demonstrate that working in the field of community economic development is a career goal;
- has not previously participated in a Career Focus work experience placement.
How to apply?
Deadline for host organizations to submit an application is September 13th, 2010, 5:00pm Pacific Daylight Time. Download the CED Work Experience Host Organization Application Form here.
Youth interested in the program may submit an application to the Canadian CED Network or may apply directly to the host organizations. Download the CED Work Experience Participant Application Form here. The successful host organizations will be announced on this website.
For more information and to submit your application, please contact Matthew Thompson at or phone at 416-760-2578.
