The Complete Guide to
Mitacs for Canadian Companies

Mitacs puts a supervised intern on your project and matches what you put in. The university pays them. You get the work.

The $7,500 is what you pay Mitacs for a standard term. It is not all cash you have to leave in the project. Each term you can submit up to $5,000 of related expenses and have that amount reimbursed.

AI and software

• Cloud compute — AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure used for the project, including GPU instances.
• Model APIs — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or similar usage the intern’s work actually incurs.
• Developer tools — GitHub, Copilot, Cursor, JetBrains, or another seat added for the placement.
• Data — dataset licenses, labeling, collection, or warehouse access bought for the project.
• Experiments — fine-tuning runs, evaluation, and experiment tracking.
• Local hardware — a machine for models or data that should not run in the cloud.

Equipment

• A laptop or workstation — when the project needs one and the school’s rules allow it.
• Monitors and peripherals — a display, dock, keyboard, or headset used for the work.
• Test devices — phones, tablets, or hardware the product has to run on.

Operations

• Project tools — Linear, Jira, Notion, Asana, or a Slack seat added for the intern.
• Analytics — Amplitude, Mixpanel, Looker, or a similar seat the work depends on.
• CRM and ops software — when the scope is operations, finance, customer work, or internal process.
• Design tools — Figma and plugins the project uses.
• Documentation and knowledge bases — access the intern needs to do the job.

Getting the work done

• Travel — between the company and the university when the project requires it.
• Transit — a commute arrangement the placement needs.
• Training — a course or certification the project depends on.
• Conferences — registration tied to the work, not a general perk.
• References — books and technical material used on the project.
• Communications — a phone or line if the role needs one.

Pick the work, not the student you already have in mind.

• BSI — a better product, process, or service. Marketing, operations, finance, IP. Other disciplines fit when the scope is real innovation.
• Accelerate — applied research that could be published. Faculty want these projects. Mitacs circulates them and can post them on the job board.
• One scope — one company, one project, one application. A different scope is a new proposal.
• Time — BSI is weekly supervision on a schedule you set. Accelerate interns usually split time between you and the university.
• Where it shines — defence, heavy industry, mining, life sciences, and any genuine R&D question.

1. 1Gross award — the amount Mitacs forwards to the university. This is the number to budget.
2. 2After the school’s fee — institutional, not Mitacs-wide. George Brown’s 9% leaves $20,475 of a $22,500 award, before payroll.
3. 3Take-home — salary means tax, CPP, and EI come off, and the intern gets a T4. A stipend often has little withholding. Tax can still be owed at filing.
4. 4Above $45,000 — raise the initial contribution and flow it through Mitacs. Do not pay the difference on the side.
5. 5What to promise — the gross, the school that pays it, and a payroll illustration before the start date. Not $22,500 in the bank.

Three parties, and the work happens in Canada. Meetings can be virtual. The project cannot be done from another country.

• Company — for-profit, not-for-profit, hospital, municipality, or Indigenous government. For-profits pay with private-sector funds, not government grants.
• Supervisor — university faculty who can hold Tri-Agency funds, or college faculty or designated staff. They process hours with the research office.
• Intern — 18 or older: citizen, permanent resident, international student, or postdoc with a work permit, registered at a Mitacs partner school.
• Recent graduates — within two years of graduation, up to 3 units, if that school will hold the grant.
• Current students — no fixed unit cap, one internship at a time, and they must stay enrolled.
• Postdocs — within five years of the PhD, up to nine units, and not already a full-time employee of the company.

1. 1One scope — one company, one project. Label Intern 1 and Intern 2 on the timeline.
2. 2Each role — name what that person owns. “Support the team” will not survive review.
3. 3One document — track changes in a shared doc with the supervisor and your Mitacs advisor.
4. 4The email — subject line Company — Candidate — Project. Include the CV, the title, and whether a supervisor is already identified.
5. 5Three facts first — the project, whether you have a trainee, and whether you have a supervisor in mind.

1. 1Call the advisor — before anyone drafts. Confirm BSI or Accelerate, and clear any conflict first.
2. 2Write the proposal — why, what, how, and when, in the Registration and Application Portal.
3. 3Collect signatures — intern, academic supervisor, and company, then the research office.
4. 4Leave six weeks — the start date should be at least six weeks after submission. BSI review is often about four weeks, then about three to approve.
5. 5Pay the invoice — Mitacs invoices when you submit. Nothing moves until it is paid and the project is approved.
6. 6Open the letter — it sets the start date and the amount. Work before that letter is not reimbursed.

This is the handoff. Upgraded steps back. Three people run the placement from here.

• Mitacs advisor — timeline changes, holds, cancellations, and unused credits.
• Academic supervisor — the work, weekly check-ins, and hours with the research office.
• University admin — the grant account, administration fees, and payroll. Mitacs does not control that calendar.
• Your side — a named supervisor and a weekly meeting. BSI interns give a final presentation. Everyone files an exit survey within 30 days.

1. 1Resolve it — try first, and keep a note that you tried.
2. 2Tell Mitacs — the same day. There is generally a 30-day cancellation window.
3. 3Put it on hold — if everyone agrees the intern cannot continue. Do not quietly swap someone in.
4. 4Refund — available except on the final unit. A problem in month five can usually be paused. The last unit cannot change interns.
5. 5Use the credit — email the project name, the unused amount, and the unit to apply it to. Get it in writing before the next invoice.

Mitacs approves the project. The research office decides whether that school will hold the grant and pay the intern.

A student from another school

1. 1Grant account — finance opens one.
2. 2Hours — the professor approves them with the research office.
3. 3Payroll — finance adds the intern and pays them.
4. 4HR — status, insurance, and any accommodations.
5. 5One supervisor — keep interns together when you can. Consistent supervision is the reason that holds up.

BSI is a supervised innovation project. Accelerate is a supervised research project the university is motivated to support — because it can become a paper you get to review first.

• Who owns the IP — Mitacs does not decide. You negotiate it with the research office. Brock, Concordia, McGill, SFU, Alberta, Calgary, Ottawa, and Victoria use their own terms.
• Nothing publishes without consent — you get time to remove customer names, pricing, sites, and proprietary thresholds.
• A typical paper — “Estimating maintenance demand from equipment sensor data.” The method can be public. Your customers and your numbers stay out.
• Why faculty say yes — Accelerate is circulated inside Mitacs and can be posted on the job board. Agree the review window before the project starts.

• Intern conflict — ownership, employment, day-to-day influence, or a close relationship with the supervisor or someone in that role at the company. Those projects are not approved.
• Supervisor conflict — disclose it before you draft. If it proceeds, the intern is not your employee, and the internship is a different project with different duties.
• Do not start early — starting before approval makes that review harder, and the work is not reimbursed.

1. 1Name the project — one sentence, and whether a paper is even desirable.
2. 2Pick the program — with your advisor, before anyone opens the portal.
3. 3Name the supervisor — and confirm they will process hours with their research office.
4. 4Set the gross — if it is above the minimum, increase the first contribution.
5. 5Check the school — administration fee and payroll, in writing.
6. 6Submit once — up to 10 units, each role labeled.
7. 7Wait for the letter — then the advisor, the supervisor, and university admin run it.