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Indigenous Summer Student Hiring

Indigenous Summer Student Hiring is an annual work experience funding opportunity that promotes career development through Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, connecting and being. The funding program was created in support of the UCalgary Indigenous Strategy and strives to promote equity by removing systemic and historical barriers that Indigenous students have faced in terms of gaining work related experience. By providing these opportunities, the program aims to aid students in successfully entering graduate school or the workforce upon completion of their studies. UCalgary seeks to increase the diversity of summer students on-campus and inclusion by providing opportunities that specifically support Indigenous students.

The work term runs each summer from May 1 to August 31 and the program is designed to have the successful candidate work on the hiring manager’s team for the full 16 weeks.


Program Details

The goals of the program are to: 

  • Provide mentoring for Indigenous student participants through participating in the Ótáp ímisskaan Leadership Program
  • Enable access to professional and academic work/research experience for Indigenous students
  • Increase support for Indigenous research
  • Build intercultural capacity building for mentors and supervisors of Indigenous students
  • Increase awareness and pathway building for Indigenous students for employment and studies at UCalgary
  • Strengthened relationships and engagement with Indigenous community partners

The hiring process for students into a summer position varies depending on whether they are a Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà student or studying at another post-secondary institution. The AUPE collective agreement states that only UCalgary students are eligible to be hired into the Student (Operating or Fixed-term) employee type.

Students from other post-secondary institutions are still able to work in student positions but must be hired into the Recurring Part-Time employee type.

Process to Hire UCalgary Students

Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà students are hired via Template Based Hire (TBH) – Student hourly into phase 1 of any AUPE job family. No job posting is required in this case. The online TBH form will automatically flow to all applicable approvers. Once the employee and job record have been created in the Human Resources PeopleSoft system, the new employee’s reports to manager receives a confirmation email. The email includes appointment details and a link to the onboarding page.

Process to Hire Non-UCalgary Students

In order to hire a non-Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà student (recurring part-time) the following steps will be required:

  • Job Opening Request (JOR): You will begin the Job Opening Request by submitting the job profile for review by the HR Compensation Analysts. Once reviewed, a classification and Job Code will be assigned to your role, and you will receive a notification to return to the Job Opening Request (JOR) and enter the remaining job details.
    • When submitting the JOR, please ensure all boxes are completed with accurate information. Missed information could result in delays or denial of your request.
    • If you require assistance with submitting a JOR, please contact UService to assist you with this process.
    • Once all approvals have been received, your position will be posted on the Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà Careers page.
  • Reviewing Applications: Please review the applicants as soon as possible by logging into the myUCalgary portal and navigating to: My work > People management > Manage applicants. For step-by-step instructions, see the  guide. Once you have reviewed the applicants, please update the disposition status of those applicants moving forward in the recruitment process. You are not required to update the status of those applicants not selected, but this feature may help you organize the candidates.
    • Applications can be reviewed while the positing is open to receive applications. Candidates should be assessed based on the qualifications which were identified on the job profile and the job posting.
    • Candidates should not be contacted for an interview until after the posting has closed to ensure fairness and equity amongst all applications.
  • Making an Offer: Once you have selected a candidate for the role it is time to prepare a verbal pre-offer. When deciding the salary amount ensure you are following relevant salary guidelines, and be sure to stay within approved budget limits.
    • With this information confirmed, present the candidate with the verbal pre-offer and discuss all terms of employment. The Verbal Pre-Offer Checklist found in the  provides a detailed overview of the items to discuss.
    • If the candidate accepts, submit an offer letter request through the Job Opening. For step by step instructions on how to submit the request, refer to the . The request is used to obtain the candidate’s information, final salary, start date, and other offer information required to produce a formal offer letter.
    • Once the employee and job record have been created in the Human Resources PeopleSoft system the new employee’s reports to manager receives a confirmation email. The email includes appointment details and a link to the onboarding page.

All employees hired within the Indigenous Summer Student Hiring funding program are required to enter their time in PeopleSoft as this is an essential step in obtaining wage reimbursements. Employees will only be paid for the hours they work/enter in their timesheet. Hiring managers are to ensure employees regularly entering their hours.

Community Futures Treaty 7

At the end of the employment term (in September), managers will need to provide timesheets from PeopleSoft (or paystubs) and will submit this along with a completed timesheet report form to the representatives. The representative will process the paperwork and submit the reimbursement. The Accounts Receivable (AR) team at UCalgary will contact the hiring manager once the reimbursement cheque has arrived. The cheque will contain the reimbursement for the entire work term. The hiring manager will need to provide the accounting string to deposit the cheque.

Rupertsland Institute

Each month, the manager will need to request the student employee to send a copy of their paystub to submit to the representative for reimbursement. The representative will take the paystub to process the reimbursement on their end. The Accounts Receivable (AR) team at UCalgary will contact the hiring manager once the reimbursement cheque has arrived. The hiring manager will need to provide the accounting string to deposit the cheque.

Application Process

To initiate the subsidy application process, contact the following representatives from the applicable organization based on the . Each organization will provide an employer subsidy application to complete. You will be required to provide information regarding the employment opportunity including a job profile for the role. Some examples of details you will need to prepare include:

  • Position title
  • Hourly wage
  • Start date and end date
  • Total hours per week
  • Training objectives
  • Position tasks and responsibilities

After submitting the completed employer subsidy application to the representative, the application will be reviewed and evaluated and if approved, the organization will provide a subsidy agreement to be signed to finalize the employment and subsidy details. Following this, the organization will connect directly with the student and complete the intake and assessment process on their end.

CFT7 is a leader in economic development and employment and training best practices, advising and collaborating with Treaty Seven First Nations and their members to build on collective and unique strengths and successes. The First Nations Summer Career Placement (FNSCP) Program with CFT7 is designed to assist First Nations Treaty Status students in preparing for their future entry into the labor market by providing employers with assistance in offsetting some of their wage costs associated with hiring secondary and post secondary students for summer employment.

Herb Crowchild: herb@T7edc.com

Sidney Two Young Men: sidney@T7edc.com

Unfortunately, due to the restructure of the METI-Services program Rupertsland Institute is not offering the summer student program in 2024. 

Rupertsland Institute is committed to lifelong learning by supporting the education goals of Métis citizens in Alberta. The Youth Summer Employment program offers a summer job opportunity to Métis youth (ages 15-30) and helps Métis students gain valuable career-related experience that supports a return to school in the fall. Students that are receiving funding from other subsidies (ex. Mitacs) are still eligible for funding.


Additional Resources

| Student Recruitment Support

Writing Symbols Lodge | Indigenous Career Services

Template Based Hire (TBH) Resources | PeopleSoft How-to Resources

Job Opening Request (JOR) Resources | PeopleSoft How-to Resources

| Hiring Process Best Practices