The Canadian CED Network

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 Service 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 placements for the intake phase starting August 4, 2009 and ending January 15, 2010 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:

• The appropriateness of the proposed placement in relation to community economic development (for a definition of CED, please click here.)
• Organizational capacity to support interns in their daily work, in providing mentorship, and in developing their careers; 
• Provincial/territorial and urban/rural diversity; 
• Prior experience in other internship and student programs; 
• The ability to recruit students from different 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 two 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?

Stay tuned for more information about the call for proposals for the next CreateAction intake.

Contacts

CreateAction Program Coordinator
Matthew Thompson
(416) 760-2578
mthompson at ccednet-rcdec.ca