The Canadian CED Network

What is CreateAction
How does CreateAction work?
How to Apply
Contacts

Visit the CreateAction Blog, hosted by Emerging Leaders!

What is CreateAction?

The Canadian CED Network’s CreateAction program is the only work experience program that provides paid learning opportunities for youth involved in community economic development (CED) in their own communities. This internship program is funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada through their Youth Employment Strategy Career Focus program. The purpose of CreateAction is to offer a six month internship to young post-secondary graduates who are considering a career in CED.

The Canadian CED Network has just completed its seventh consecutive year in coordinating the CreateAction internship program.  To review the host organizations for the intake phase starting October 4, 2010 and ending March 25, 2011 please click here. 

How does CreateAction work?

Following a call for proposals, organizations interested in hosting an intern submit an application to the Canadian CED Network.  All applications received before the submission deadline are reviewed by a selection committee comprised of past participants, members of the Emerging Leaders committee, and the Canadian CED Network’s Executive Director.  Successful host organization applicants are then responsible for hiring an intern according to the specific internship criteria.

Eligible internship placements include projects that involve: project management, participatory research, communications, social entrepreneurship, business planning, social marketing, CED financing, and asset mapping.

The Canadian CED Network requires that all host organizations be members of the Network or be willing to join if their application to host an intern is approved. (For more information on joining the Canadian CED Network, please click here.)  

The Canadian CED Network selects host organizations based on 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.) *NEW*
• 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 is responsible for:

• Managing the CED internship program;
• Managing the intern payroll
• Covering intern wages
• Covering payroll deductions and benefits required by law; 
• Providing substantial travel and accommodation assistance for a national gathering of all interns;
• Providing interns with learning activities and peer mentoring.

The host organizations are responsible for:

• Supervising the work of the interns; 
• Actively contributing to intern learning opportunities; 
• Enabling interns to set aside approximately one day per week for a national youth engagement project in CED; 
• Enabling the interns to participate in the national gathering for at least three days.

All participants accepted to the CED internship program must meet the following criteria:

• Be between 15 and 30 years of age (inclusive) at the time of selection;
• Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person who has been granted refugee status in Canada;
• Be legally entitled to work in Canada according to the relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations; 
• Be out of school; 
• Be a post-secondary graduate; 
• Not be in receipt of Employment Insurance (EI) benefits; 
• Not be working in his/her field of study (underemployed, unemployed); 
• Be considering a career in community economic development; 
• Not have participated in a Career Focus program in the past.

How to apply?

Applications are not currently being accepted.

Contacts

CreateAction Program Coordinator
Matthew Thompson
Phone: (416) 760-2578
Fax: (416) 769-9912
mthompson at ccednet-rcdec.ca