The Business/Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) welcomes Bombardier’s introduction of a new internship program, which will provide at least 1000 students with paid internships each year. 

“Today’s announcement by Bombardier is a very positive sign of how the private sector can contribute to the future of talent and skills development in Canada. Presenting  students with relevant and meaningful work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities is at the heart of BHER’s mission, and these opportunities are much needed in the context of the rapid change of technology and the talent shortage in sectors such as aerospace,” said Marc Parent, CEO of Montreal-based CAE and a member of BHER’s Board of Directors.

The new program will attract and develop new talent for the aerospace industry — an objective which is fully aligned with BHER’s mandate for every student to have some form of work-integrated learning, such as a co-op, internship, apprenticeship or applied research project, to help them move from school to work.

Beyond creating placements, Bombardier has also committed to launching new digital tools to help recruit students and improve mentorship training. This training for full-time Bombardier staff will help create an environment to support overall student development and success. Additionally, internships at Bombardier will span across business units and departments, creating a multidisciplinary and diverse experience. 

Today’s Bombardier announcement is a concrete example of bolstering work-integrated learning opportunities for students — both within BHER’s membership and beyond — across Canada. 

“BHER as an organization has a mandate to facilitate and help higher education institutions and businesses from across Canada work closely together to make WIL opportunities accessible to all students,” continued Marc Parent. “And certainly at CAE, we will continue and are committed to increasing our WIL activities for students, wherein 2019, over 2500 Canadian students have benefitted directly from one form or another of CAE’s WIL activities, including 350 full-time internships.”

“On behalf of BHER I congratulate Bombardier on reaffirming its commitment to talent development, and as a call for action through my leadership of BHER’s Aerospace WIL initiative, I invite aerospace companies, small, medium, and large from across Canada to contribute to creating more WIL opportunities. Every single one of them matters for the students.”