Manitoba offers incentive for non-profits hiring summer students

Connecting students with non-profits The Manitoba government announced a subsidy program for non-profits to hire summer students

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced a wage subsidy incentive program for non-profits and charities looking to hire students over the summer.

On Tuesday, Pallister announced the new non-profit summer student incentive program which will begin on June 16.

"I think with our announcement today, you are going to see a lot of non-profits and charities looking to add some people, and we are going to be able to create even more job opportunities I think that Manitoba young people really appreciate having," Pallister said.

Under this new program, charities and non-profit organizations will be eligible to receive $6,000 from the province if they hire at least one summer student. The program will pay $3,000 once the summer student hiring is confirmed, and the remaining $3,000 will be paid at the end of the summer employment.

Pallister said charities and non-profits can access this wage subsidy for up to five students, with a maximum wage subsidy of $5,000 per student. Pallister said the additional $6,000 will be on top of this.

Non-profits and charities are asked to show evidence of a summer student being hired and will receive the payment soon after, Pallister said.

Pallister said registering for this program will be simple and quick.

"In this case, we're allowing as many people as possible to sign up for this program," Pallister said. "We really believe that it's important that we get these thousands of young people -young Manitobans need the change -to get to work."

Pallister said working beats living on subsidies and said federal programs have made hiring more difficult. He said the province's goal with this program is to make hiring easier.

"We are thoughtfully designing our programs to help people find work," he said. "We are encouraging people to go back to work safely."

Pallister said it is important that students get out and get experience in a job, as opposed to relying on federal subsidy programs.

"For young people, sitting on a couch and binge-watching Netflix isn't going to get you many jobs going forward," he said. "If you can get some valuable experience during the summer at a job – that's really useful."

The online portal to register will be live on June 16.