Admission requirements

Undergraduate Level

When submitting their application students must:

• have already completed 54 units in your program of study and be registered full time at the Faculty of Social Sciences in an Honours Bachelor to apply for the field internship;
• have a 6.0 Cumulative (CGPA) grade point average;
• have demonstrated the ability to write and communicate in French, in English or in Spanish depending on the location of the internship (a Spanish language proficiency test might be required);
• Complete the admission request form and submit your application and documents for admission by the deadline stipulated on our website;
• Participate in all pre-internship, Risk Management and Consolidated learning workshop meetings organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences (participation is mandatory);
• Commit to respect the conditions laid out by the internship partners;
• Commit to contribute the fee that applies to your internship (this fee is non-refundable);
• For certain internships (Centre for International Studies and Cooperation [CECI] and World University Service of Canada [WUSC]): candidates must be Canadian citizen or permanent residents;
• Students are eligible for one internship per academic level;
• The internship must meet a requirement of the student's program of study (the internship may not count for additional credits, and must meet either optional or elective credit requirements in the program of study);
• The work part of the internship is 12 consecutive weeks (no vacation time or reading week are allowed);
• Students registered into the CO-OP program who want CO-OP credits must obtain beforehand a written permission from the CO-OP Program

Graduate Level

When submitting their application students must:

• be registered full time in a Masters' or Doctoral program at the Faculty of social sciences;
• get permission from their research supervisor and the supervisor of the academic unit before submitting their request for admission;
• have demonstrated the ability to write and communicate in French in English or in Spanish depending on the location of the internship (a Spanish language proficiency test might be required);
• Complete the admission request form and submit the documents for admission by the deadline stipulated on our website;
• Participate in all pre-internship, Risk Management and Consolidated learning workshop meetings organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences;
• Commit to contribute the fee that applies to your internship (this fee is non-refundable);
• Commit to respect the conditions laid out by the internship partners;
• For certain internships (Centre for International Studies and Cooperation [CECI] and World University Service of Canada [WUSC]): candidates must be Canadian citizen or permanent residents;
• Students are eligible for one internship per academic level; some internships may not be combined with a field research for the purpose of a thesis or a major research paper;
• The internship must meet a requirement of the student's program of study (the internship may not count for additional credits, and must meet either optional or elective credit requirements in the program of study);
• Students registered into a co-operative program who want Coop credits must obtain beforehand a written permission from the Coop Program. It is important to respect the work-study sequence.

Students who take part in the internships offered by the Faculty, through the partnerships with Canadian NGOs, will have to pay, in the semester preceding the internship, for the following:

Field internships

• Internship Fees are $4,700 (includes Airline ticket, Travel Insurance, Food and Housing)
• Tuition fees (part time or full time according to student registration)
• Other expenses may include: medical certificate, vaccines, visa, police record check, etc.

Please note that students who take part in the internship program benefit from an important financial aid from the Faculty. 

• Field internships: NGO internship fees can reach up to $10,000 to cover the airline ticket, travel insurance, food and housing. The Faculty provides financial aid in the form of covering the difference between the student’s personal contribution and the total internship fee to enable students to participate in an international internship.
• In addition, the Faculty of Social Science provides a $500 bursary, along with uOinternational’s $500 bursary, for a total of $1000 that is deposited in student accounts after the internship is completed.

Field Internships

For undergraduate students, the internship is worth 6 units. Depending on the program, students can count the internship as part of their optional course requirements or electives (course codes are ANT 4010, DVM 4010, ECH 4010 or FSS 4010, according to student's program).

Undergraduate students can also get 6 units through the intensive courses offered immediately after the internship. These courses can count as electives, optional courses or additional units depending on the student's program. All registration is completed through FSSINTER.  You cannot register yourself online.

For Graduate students, the internship is worth 3 course units. Upon approval of Internship Coordinator of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the unit, the graduate student’s unit will register the student.

Undergraduate Level

• Students may do only one field international internship per academic level. The internship is marked S (satisfactory) or NS (non satisfactory)
• Intensive pre-departure and Consolidation of Learning Workshop meetings are mandatory;
• Students who wish to maintain full time status may also register to 2 courses (3 weeks) immediately after the internship period. The two intensive courses, 3 units each, will enable students to make links between knowledge and the hands-on experience of an international internship. The intensive courses could count as optional course units, electives or additional credits to the program of study;
• Intensive courses are marked alpha-numerical;
• Registration for these courses will be done by internship coordinator. A student cannot take part in the internships offered by the Faculty without being registered to the internship course code. Please note that if you have a financial condition linked to your student account, we won't be able to register you for the internship. You will be financially responsible for any cost resulting from this situation.
• A student cannot graduate before or while completing an internship.

Graduate Level

• Students may do only 1 international internship per academic level.
• The internship is marked S (satisfactory) or NS (non satisfactory)
• Pre-internship and Consolidated Learning workshop meetings are mandatory.
• Registration for these courses will take place at the student's Academic Unit. A student cannot take part in the internships offered by the Faculty without being registered to the course code. Please note that if you have a financial condition linked to your student account, we won't be able to register you for the internship. You will be financially responsible for any cost resulting from this situation.
• A student cannot graduate before or while completing an internship.

Before the application deadline indicated in the important dates page, you must: 

• Meet with the Internship Coordinator to discuss your interest in the internships and understand how it can fit in your program of study.
• Complete the online Faculty application form. Once you have submitted the application, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. Please keep this e-mail as it is proof that you have submitted the online application before the deadline.
• Submit a letter of interest and a resume for EACH of the positions you are applying for (maximum two positions). They must be written in the working language of the country selected. For example, if you have selected postings in countries such as Bolivia and Senegal, you must hand in a cover letter and a resume in Spanish and another in French. You must send your letters of interest and resumes to  [email protected].

The internship trainings are mandatory. It includes about 30 hours of training. The Faculty of social sciences offers multicultural training, ethical issues when doing international cooperation, international development and issues relating to your particular host country. Your Canadian NGO will address issues around their mission, their projects and their local partners.  FSS trainings are conducted in person at the uOttawa Campus.

All these trainings are mandatory. We will notify students of date, time and location of theses trainings as soon as possible. They all take place in the preceding semester, before your internship semester.  Please note that we cannot take into consideration individual student's schedule such as work time, trips, etc.

The Consolidation of Learning Workshop closes the course part of the internship by analyzing your experience, your challenges and issues linked to the internship.  It takes place in person at the uOttawa campus immediately after you have ended the work part of the internship (for both field and virtual internship).

You must make sure to read and meet the different deadlines associated with an internship.  You will find those under Important Dates at the home page of international internships in the right column.

Students registered in the Coop program must also take into account the key dates linked to that program.