Digital Skills for Youth (DS4Y)

To apply to host an internship or artist residency, you must be a Canadian small or medium business or a non-profit organization with no more than 500 employees. You must have the capacity to host an internship or residency, including providing training and support to the intern or artist, administering project funds, reporting on the internship or residency and fulfilling all other obligations under the program. Please refer to the Assessment Criteria for more information about how host organizations will be selected.

Artists in Residence hired under DS4Y must:

• Be between 15 and 30 years of age at the start of the residency;
• Be legally entitled to work in Canada (either a citizen, permanent resident or person with refugee status);
• Self-identify as underemployed (i.e. employed below their level of education, holding part-time employment, or in emerging fields with few jobs);
• Have completed post-secondary studies (exception: interns located in Nunavut, Yukon or NWT are not required to meet this criterion);
• Have no immediate family relationship with the employer.

Please note that IMAA is not accepting applications directly from prospective youth interns or artists. Host organizations, not IMAA, are responsible for advertising opportunities publicly and for recruiting and hiring youth.

Host organizations are strongly encouraged to consider equity and diversity when recruiting, hiring and hosting youth interns and artists. Consideration should be given for participation from the designated groups outlined in the Employment Equity Act — Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, racialized persons, and women — as well as official language minorities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and youth facing barriers to employment.

Eligible internships and artist residencies must take place in the period between August 4th 2025 and March 31st 2026.

Eligible activities include:

•  Providing youth interns or artists with the necessary equipment, workspace, workplace-related training and mentoring in order to enhance and maximize the internship experience;
• Supporting youth interns or artists in the development and implementation of work activities to provide participants with meaningful work experience and enhance their employability.
• Employment and training must develop and enhance skills in digital domains, for example: software/app development, web development, 3D fabrication or modelling, video game design, network systems administration, adaptive technologies, web-based learning, physical computing, VR/AR/XR, immersive technologies, video mapping, video on demand, metadata/discoverability, database optimization, machine learning, interactive technology, etc.

IMAA is offering two distinct opportunities for Host Organizations under the DS4Y program: 

1. Hosting an Internship:

• For organizations looking to hire a youth intern for up to 6 months of employment, working on a project directed by the host organization. 
• Organizations are asked to provide a job description and training plan outlining what their intern will be working on and how they will support the development of the intern’s digital and soft skills.
• Funded internship positions have included roles in IT direction, app development, digital marketing and more. 
• IMAA does not fund communications positions, projectionist positions, or roles that largely involve sharing prepared content across multiple platforms.

2. Hosting an Artist Residency:

• For organizations looking to host a youth emerging artist for up to 4 months to develop their digital skills in relation to their artistic practice.
• Organizations are asked to outline the types of digital skills they can support the artist in developing, and to provide a plan for how they will provide individualized training and mentorship to the selected artist based on their needs and interests.

Artist’s projects may be self-directed so long as they meet the objectives and expected outcomes of the DS4Y program.

Under the DS4Y program, IMAA will fund up to 100% of internship costs for nonprofit  and for-profit employers, to a maximum of  $21 000 per intern or artist. 

IMAA will reimburse:

• Salaries and benefits for the intern or artist (please note that IMAA expects employers to pay, at a minimum, a living wage)
• Training costs related to youth upskilling, to a maximum of $3,000 including taxes per intern or artist
• Costs necessary to execute the internship or artist residency (e.g. security and safety equipment, disability accommodations, etc.). These costs will  be assessed on a case by case basis once the participant has been selected.

The following expenses are not eligible for reimbursement:

• Salaries or honoraria for non-intern or artist staff (except for time specifically devoted to training and mentoring)
• Equipment costs, office supplies, or telecommunications fees incurred by the host organization
• Administrative costs

Applications from prospective host organizations will be assessed by a panel of arts professionals selected by IMAA. The following criteria will be used to assess and select applications:

• Value of work experience offered (35%)
• Strength of recruitment process, including inclusivity of underrepresented groups (25%)
• Strength of proposed training plan (20%)
• Regional and sectoral impact (20%)

Once applications open, the application form will be embedded below.

The next deadline for applications is June 2nd, 2025 at midnight PT.

Applicants will receive results by email 4-6 weeks following the deadline.

Anticipated Selection Schedule

• May 1st, 2025: Application process opens
• May 15th, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. (ET): Discord information session 
• June 2nd, 2025 Deadline for applicants to submit applications 
• June 27th, 2025: Notification of results
• August 4th, 2025: Earliest possible start date for internships and residencies