MONTREAL – Bombardier has announced that it will provide more than 1,000 paid internship positions in Canada for the 2019-2020 school year. The announcement was made at an event hosted by senior executives and attended by dozens of university and business representatives and more than 100 interns at Bombardier’s Challenger business jet delivery centre in Dorval, Québec.
While the company has provided paid internship positions in Canada for more than two decades, this is the first time Bombardier has publicly committed to exceeding 1,000 internships for a single academic year. Bombardier expects to invest approximately $17 million (CAD) to fund its internship program, with the vast majority of this amount going towards intern salaries.
“We are extremely proud to be able to commit to more than 1,000 intern positions for this school year,” said Mike Nadolski, Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs, Bombardier Inc. “This announcement reflects Bombardier’s ongoing commitment to playing a leading role in the education and development of the next generation of innovators and business leaders.”
Bombardier internships are designed to provide students with practical, real-world experience that complements their academic training and better prepares them for careers in their chosen field. Each intern is partnered with a professional mentor and provided with additional enrichment and training opportunities, including networking sessions and direct interaction with senior executives.
In addition to growing the program from approximately 550 positions in 2016 to more than 1,000 in the coming year, Bombardier has made it a priority to recruit and hire interns who reflect the diversity that the company aspires to attain in its workforce. One notable achievement has been an increase in the percentage of female students recruited from science and engineering programs from 16% in 2016 to more than 25% in this year. Female interns are expected to fill 40% of all intern positions by the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
For the upcoming year, Bombardier expects to recruit interns from 23 colleges and universities across Canada, up from eight in 2016. Bombardier also recently launched a new website to streamline the application process for interested students and its university partners.
The company expects to provide approximately 600 intern positions in the coming academic year for students pursuing engineering or science degrees, including opportunities in mechanical, electrical, aeronautical, chemical, and industrial engineering, as well as computer science and artificial intelligence. Another 400 intern positions will be focused on other management functions, including finance, accounting, IT, human resources, public affairs, and law. Interested students are invited to apply at www.bombardierinterships.com
“With hundreds of former interns accepting full-time positions at Bombardier over the past few years, our internship program serves as a valuable pipeline for talent to support our future growth,” Nadolski added. “The program helps us identify and hire the brightest minds from the next generation as we continue to drive innovation in the aviation and rail industries.”
Partner Universities
Bombardier is currently working with the following universities to provide internship opportunities: Concordia University, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), Polytechnique Montréal, Desautels Faculty of Management, John Molson School of Business, HEC, Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal, Université Laval, McGill University, UQAM, UQTR, ÉNA, Ryerson University, University of Toronto, McMaster University, Waterloo University, University of Ottawa, Centennial College, Carleton University, Queen’s University, York University and ESG.
What others are saying about Bombardier’s Internship Program
“Today’s announcement is another eloquent illustration of the contribution from a major company like Bombardier to the economy and to citizens in Québec, in connection with the study unveiled last week by the CPQ: ‘les grandes entreprises au cœur de la prospérité du Québec.’ In this case, it is in providing a rewarding experience for young people, complementarity to their education, allowing them to find their professional vocation and helping to meet the needs of the labour market,” said Mr. Louis Senécal, Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Quebec Employers Council (CPQ).
“For more than 20 years, Bombardier has been a partner of choice for Concordia University, offering hundreds of internships in a fast-paced, dynamic and evolving industry. Bombardier’s team of supervisors offer many enriching experiences to students, and they care to mentor and guide them to develop unquestionable expertise in the field of aerospace,” said Claude Martel, Ph.D., Director of Institute for Co-operative Education, Concordia University.
“Since 1992, more than 1,500 ÉTS interns have been hired by Bombardier. Bombardier’s internship mandates provide an enriching experience for our students. In fact, 85% of them recommend their internship experience,” said Brigitte Watier, Director of Co-operative Education, Cooperative Education Service, École de technologie supérieure.
“Each year, over 130 Polytechnique students have the opportunity to intern at Bombardier, where they can put into practice what they have learned in class and come face to face with the reality of the industry. A major and early partner, Bombardier offers an invaluable component to the training of future engineers,” said François Bertrand, Assistant Director General and Director of Training and Research, Polytechnique Montréal.
“Hiring students is a key way for Canadian businesses to get the talent and fresh perspectives they need. At the Business/Higher Education Roundtable, we know that tying internships into company culture makes the experience more valuable for students and more sustainable for employers. Bombardier’s investment goes far beyond the numbers: training for mentors and multidisciplinary internships for students from diverse academic backgrounds is the right approach to building a successful program,” said Valerie Walker, Executive Director, Business/Higher Education Roundtable (BHER).
“As one of the founders of FIRST Robotics Québec, Bombardier offers 100 mentors and volunteers each year to encourage our high school students to develop their passion for science, technology and engineering, and to move towards careers in these areas. Today’s announcement of more, enhanced internships at the post-secondary level is a perfect continuation of their commitment to developing the skills of the next generation of innovators in Québec and Canada,” Gabriel Bran Lopez, President and Founder, Fusion Jeunesse and FIRST Robotics Québec.
“This internship has been a rewarding experience and was different from my other internship opportunities because it allowed me to get hands on experience working with new systems, such as electric aircraft technologies. This is something I have always considered important, so I’m happy to have a role to play in this project,” said Adriana Orta Bracho, fourth-year Concordia student in aerospace engineering and intern at Bombardier Aviation in Advanced Systems.
“The number of internship placements at Bombardier has increased steadily over the past few years from 9 McGill interns in 2016-2017, 21 interns in 2017-2018, and 25 interns from McGill were hired in 2018-2019. Bombardier continues to be a company which attracts many students who are interested in the booming aerospace industry in the Montréal area,” said Julie Godin, Engineering Career Centre, McGill University.
“With nearly 37,000 positions that need to be filled within the next 10 years, our industry faces a worrisome workforce shortage. Bombardier’s impressive internship program announced today will greatly help renew the talent that our industry needs to grow. It also adds to Aéro Montréal’s initiatives aimed at ensuring the development of the aerospace workforce in Québec, such as the deployment of the Ose l’Aéro recruitment campaign or the creation of the Aéro Montréal Reorganization (RRAM). This is excellent news for Québec,” said Suzanne M. Benoît, President of Aéro Montréal.
