MITACS Accelerate

In consultation with MITACS and Research Development Services, Western agrees to pay MITACS Accelerate graduate student internship funds as 'scholarship' to qualified graduate students only.

"Scholarships are amounts paid or benefits given to students to enable them to pursue their education. Scholarships usually apply to education at a post-secondary level or beyond, such as at a university, college, technical institute or other educational institution.  Scholarships normally assist the student in proceeding towards a degree, diploma, or other certificate of graduation."

Value

  • Funding starts at $10,000, and your partner organization’s financial contribution starts at $5,000.

Timeline and Deadlines

  • Apply anytime.
  • Eight- to 10-week peer review.
  • College students can do up to three four-month internships, Master’s students can do up to four four-month internships, and PhD students can do up to eight.
  • The Mitacs Accelerate Fellowship supports longer-term projects for graduate students.
  • Internships start at four months.

Eligibility

  • Full-time students at all Canadian colleges, and full-time grad students and undergraduate students at Canadian universities.
  • Full-time graduate students in select Mitacs partner countries (visit the  Accelerate International  tab for more details).
  • Part-time students are also eligible for Accelerate internships that do not include international travel, provided that the following conditions hold:  
    • They have student status at the academic institution for the duration of the internship.
    • They are covered under the institution’s insurance, the same as full-time students.
    • The institution is able to pay the intern a salary or stipend from the Mitacs grant.
    • The student is able to commit to the project for the appropriate duration (Accelerate internships are four months and may be spread over up to six months to accommodate other commitments).
  • Recent college and university graduates (any level) are eligible, at the discretion of the academic institution. 
    • Must have status at the academic institution.
      • Check with your institution to find out what status(es) are available for recent grads.
      • Be sure to check immigration/visa status for international students/recent grads.
    • Internship must start within two years of graduation.
    • Normally eligible for one 4-6-month internship but may do up to three depending on the needs of the project and the discretion of the academic institution.
    • All program expectations remain the same: the intern must have an academic supervisor and split their time between the academic institution and the partner organization.
  • Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and international students over the age of 18.
  • All academic disciplines.
  • Eligible businesses and not-for-profit organizations operating in Canada.
  • Canadian municipalities and hospitals.
  • Under the Accelerate Entrepreneur initiative, eligible intern-owned start-ups at approved incubators. Contact accelerate@mitacs.ca to confirm your start-up’s eligibility.
  • For-profit businesses operating outside of Canada.

Compensation Rate Determined by agency
CRA Tax Treatment Tax exempt when paid to a registered student; Reported on T4A tax receipt
System Paid Through Student Centre, Contact Erin Daley to arrange payment 
Special Note

These funds are provided through a research project.  Scholarship funds paid to qualified graduate students through SGPS will be expensed to the research project by processing a journal entry:

  • The appropriate expense line is dependent on degree and citizenship of student (please consult this chart provided by Research Accounting for the appropriate expense line)
  • Student number is populated in the reference field and the student name in the description field.