Connect Canada is helping to increase the amount of research and development in Canada. The program matches graduate students and post-doctoral fellows with private-sector host companies (industry partner) for research internships. The interns work on research projects jointly developed by their academic supervisor and the industry partner.

Internships are four-to-six month placements, with at least 50 per cent of the intern’s time spent at the industry partner’s facilities. The value of the total internship stipend is $10,000, funded equally between the industry partner and Connect Canada. Connect Canada funding is stackable, allowing industry partners and academic researchers to leverage other sources of funding.

Connect Canada takes no ownership of intellectual property generated through a placement. Intellectual property agreements are to be determined by the terms of the intern’s home university, unless a separate agreement is negotiated between the university, the researchers and the sponsoring company.