Internships
An internship is a short term opportunitity at a placement that helps you gain work experience. Interning abroad provides you with an enriching opportunity that allows you to develop essential skills while you broaden your global perspective.
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships Program
Spend 100 days in Ghana (aligned with academic term dates) with a 90-day internship at various non-profit organizations.
If you are selected for the program, you will receive $6,000 grant to go towards the costs associated with the internship and accommodations at the University of Ghana (Legon).
Want to learn more? View a recording of our recent information session (passcode: #QEScholars123).
To be eligible, you must:
- Be a registered Laurier undergraduate student.
- All students are encouraged to apply, but priority goes to students in Human Rights and Human Diversity, Social Work, Global Studies, International Education Studies or Faculty of Arts.
- Be enrolled full-time and on track to have third-year standing by the end of the winter 2023 semester.
- You must complete 9.5 credits by the time the internship takes place.
- If you are more advanced in your degree studies, you may score higher in our application evaluations.
- Have a minimum 7.0 GPA at the time you apply.
- Be 35 years of age or younger at the time you apply.
- Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
- Hold a valid passport.
In the application, you will be asked to:
- Respond to the elibility requirements outlined on this page.
- Submit a letter of motivation.
- Submit an up-to-date resume.
- Upload a photo or scan of the photo page of your passport.
- Provide two references (one academic and one non-academic).
Interview
If you are successful in applying, you will be invited to an interview with Laurier International staff and faculty members from your program of study.
If you are currently out of the country, you may still apply. If you are selected for an interview, you may be interviewed virtually.
Upon acceptance to the internship, you will be asked to:
- Sign a form authorizing Laurier International to perform a background check with Laurier's Special Constable Service and the Laurier Care and Support Team.
- Submit a Police Vulnerable Sector Check within 60 days of being accepted.
You will also commit to satisfying the following requirements:
- Participate in a pre-departure program.
- Sign and complete the following Laurier International forms:
- Acknowledgement of Risk and Responsibility.
- Agreement to Participate on Study Exchange.
- After returning to Canada:
- Participate in a debriefing/re-entry session.
- Participate in public engagement activities.
During the internship, you will agree to:
- Be at the partner's office or field site for at least seven hours a day, five days a week (or 35 hours per week).
- Complete an academic credit related to the internship, depending on your program of study.
- Act in accordance with an Global Affairs Canada travel advisory in effect at the time.
The Laurier-Ghana Partnership for Human Rights, Criminology and Social Justice began in 2015 with more than $400,000 in initial funding from the Queen Elizabeth Scholars program. Since that time, more than 40 Laurier students have completed internships in the West African country.
Across Canada, the Queen Elizabeth Scholars program is awarding a total of $5.8 million to 20 projects led by Canadian universities. Through the latest phase of the program, an estimated 650 Canadian and international students will undertake internships and research in Canada and abroad.
The Queen Elizabeth Scholars program is a collaborative initiative led by the Rideau Hall Foundation, Universities Canada and the Community Foundations of Canada, with contributions from the Government of Canada, provincial governments, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), universities, and a wide range of private sector donors.
The nearly $300,000 in funding has allowed 29 Laurier undergraduate students to undertake three-month internships in Ghana from 2017 to 2023 and nine graduate students from the University of Ghana to spend a semester at Laurier.