International programs and projects

Finnish-Canadian Trainee Exchange Program

The AUCC Finnish-Canadian Trainee Exchange Program provides Canadian employers a unique opportunity to participate in hosting highly qualified Finnish interns. It also provides Canadians with career-related, internationally focussed work experiences in Finland.

The management of the Finnish-Canadian Trainee Exchange Program is shared between the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and the Finnish Centre for International Mobility.

The program is designed to provide international career-related work experiences that enhance trainees' chances of gaining permanent employment. The program furthers certain aspects of Canada's foreign policy objectives, specifically the promotion of prosperity and employment as well as the projection of Canadian values and culture abroad.

Internships will provide interns with first-hand knowledge of Finland and offer them a unique opportunity to gain work experience at the international level in domains such as: environmental science, forestry, communication technologies (wireless- and telecommunications), political science, international relations, teaching English and French as a foreign language, agriculture and horticulture, northern studies, aboriginal studies,hospitality and tourism, and architecture and design. Applications in other fields may also be considered.

However, please note that students and graduates in Engineering are not eligible to this program as CIMO administers the IAESTE program in Finland. Canadian students in technical fields can apply for training through that program. Please visit the IAESTE Canada website for more details: http://www.queensu.ca/iaeste/

Eligibility guidelines

In order to apply for the program, an applicant must be:

• a citizen or permanent resident of Canada
• between 18 and 30 years of age
• in full-attendance and have completed at least one year at an AUCC member institution OR have graduated from a member institution within the last two years.

Additional information

• the internships take place throughout the year
• duration 3 to 18 months - shorter periods may be agreed if both the intern and the employer so request
• in most cases, employers are expected to pay interns a salary sufficient to meet their reasonable needs for housing, food, clothing and health insurance
• CIMO and the employer help the intern to obtain accommodation
• AUCC and the employer help the intern to obtain a residence permit - visit the Embassy of Finland website, under Services.
• interns are fully responsible for arranging and paying all costs associated with their travel
• applicants are fully responsible for having a valid Canadian passport or, in the case of permanent residents, all required documentation in order to travel to Finland and back
• work assignments are most likely carried out in English

Fees

Applicants who are accepted into the program must pay an application fee of $150 Cdn. For this fee AUCC and CIMO process the application and match qualified applicants with available placements. The fee can be paid by cheque, money order or credit card. The fee does not guarantee a placement, but is 50 percent reimbursable if an applicant is not matched with a placement in the 6 months following acceptance into the program.

Candidates who are confirmed a placement must pay a placement fee of $350 Cdn. For this fee AUCC and CIMO facilitate the intern's entry to Finland, assist him/her with obtaining the residence permit and provide him/her with briefing material on Finnish society. The fee is charged by cheque or credit card once the placement has been confirmed by both parties.

Application process

Eligible candidates must apply directly to AUCC (Finnish-Canadian Trainee Exchange Program, Program Development Branch, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, 600-350 Albert Street, Ottawa ON K1R 1B1). We strongly suggest submitting the application in English since English is the language most commonly used by the employers.

The application must include:

• the application form (doc) - please enter information, after which print and sign
• a CV outlining applicant's areas of study and skills in an international context
• two letters of reference sent directly from referees to AUCC
• transcripts sent directly from the institution to AUCC

AUCC forwards all eligible applications to CIMO, which then matches applicants with available placements. When applying for the program your file will be assessed for all available positions in Finland but you may also want to specify the fields of training you are the most interested in. The final decision rests with the Finnish employer. Please note that the application process is time consuming and that AUCC does not give details about the status of the application during the process.

Internships with the Finnish Forest Research Institute (doc)

Assistant Teacher with the City of Mikkeli (pdf)
– deadline for applications is April 15, 2010

Application deadline: ONGOING

Self-arranged placement

Applicants may also want to find their own placement. In this case, the applicants must locate and contact employers in Finland by themselves. If an applicant is successful, s/he must ask the employer for detailed information about the terms of the internship. At this stage an intern is required to advise the program officer at AUCC about the internship. AUCC's total fee for those finding their own placement is $300 Cdn. For this fee AUCC and CIMO facilitate intern's entry to Finland, assist him/her in obtaining the residence permit and provide him/her briefing material on Finnish society.

For additional information, please contact:

Rachel Lalonde
Administrative Officer, Partnership Programs
International Affairs Branch
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Tel: (613) 563-3961, ext. 245
Fax: (613) 563-9745
E-mail: fin-can@aucc.ca

For more information on Finland, visit these websites: