Career Success
Humber Polytechnic IGNITE Unpaid WIL Bursary
Work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities – internships, placements, co-ops, etc. – are a fantastic way to kickstart your career. They allow students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom while gaining valuable hands-on experience. But, it’s unfair and frustrating when these opportunities come unpaid. IGNITE believes students should be paid for their work – no matter the level they’re at. Compensation should never be the reason to miss out on great opportunities.
The Humber Polytechnic IGNITE Unpaid WIL Bursary (formerly “GLOW”) awards a $2000 bursary for any full-time student at Humber Polytechnic (or the University of Guelph-Humber) who is participating in a curricular, unpaid, WIL experience that completed between May 5, 2025 to December 31, 2025 (inclusive).
This bursary is funded by IGNITE and CEWIL Canada, and is a partnership with Humber Polytechnic’s Transition & Academic Support (TAS) Team and IGNITE.
This bursary allocates $560,000.00 to alleviate financial burdens for underrepresented students.
This will be awarded on a first come first served basis, provided you meet the eligibility criteria. Please try to gather everything in advance of the application.
How to Apply
Applications for Summer 2025 will open June 24th 9am. There will be funding set aside and applications available for Fall 2025 learners in September. Stay tuned!
Eligibility Requirements
To be considered, all applicants must:
- Demonstrate considerable financial need, a metric that is evaluated on a variety of self-disclosed questions as part of the application (rent/housing costs, tuition costs, books/supply costs, etc.)
- Be working in an unpaid Work Integrated Learning (WIL) placement occurring between May 5, 2025, and August 17, 2025, inclusive.
- Be in an approved WIL experience, as defined by CEWIL here: CEWIL Canada
- Are legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with the relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations.
- Have a WIL employer that is either a Canadian organization, OR, has a Canadian office. Read more about the eligibility requirements for WIL employers here.
- If your WIL employer is from the private sector, they cannot be a financial sector employer with 500 or more employees (includes branches). This means that each of these types of WIL employers below, deem you ineligible for this bursary:
- Banks (not eligible)
- Insurance companies (not eligible)
- Trust and loan companies (not eligible)
- Credit union and Caisses populaires (not eligible)
- Securities dealers and exchanges (not eligible)
- Financial market Infrastructure (not eligible)
- Asset management companies (not eligible)
- Payment card network operators (not eligible)
- Finance and leasing companies (not eligible)
- Pension fund managers (not eligible)
- Mutual fund companies (not eligible)
- If your WIL employer is from the not-for-profit sector, they cannot be a member of the House of Commons, the Senate, or an organization that engages in partisan political activities.
- If your WIL employer is a post-secondary institution (i.e. College/University), you must be in an entrepreneurial WIL experience only. Example – if your WIL experience is taking place at Humber, the WIL opportunity should “allow [you] to leverage resources, space, mentorship and/or funding to engage in the early-stage development of business start-ups and/or to advance external ideas that address real-world needs for academic credit.”
- If your WIL employer is either a public sector or not-for-profit employer, they must have a charitable number listed on the CRA website. Please note that in many cases, your WIL experience (schools, hospitals, etc.) may be managed by a larger organization (such as a foundation or charity). For example, if you completed your placement at Mississauga Hospital, you would enter “Trillium Health Partners” as your WIL employer, and their charitable registration number 119043628 RR 0001. An excel document has been shared to help you with sourcing this information here [WIL EMPLOYER GST & NAME Tool ]
- Be able to produce one of: a GST/HST number, charitable number, or payroll number that is connected to their WIL host employer. Read more about GST/HST requirements here.
Application Requirements
Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Information
- WIL Experience Type
- Location
- Dates (inclusive)
Employer/Organization Details
- Name
- Address
- City, Province, Postal Code
- GST/HST/QST Number
Manager’s Contact Details
- Name
- Contact Number
Accurate estimates of expenses for Summer semester (May to August 2025)
SEND IN YOUR APPLICATION NOW!
Applications for the 2024 – 2025 school year are OPEN.
Choose your campus/school below to apply for the GLOW Bursary.
[Humber College] [University of Guelph-Humber]
Humber College: myhumber (or any links you have) MyHumber
Frequently Asked Questions
The Humber Polytechnic IGNITE Unpaid WIL Bursary aims to financially support students participating in unpaid Work Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunities. Funded by CEWIL and IGNITE, in partnership with Humber Polytechnic Advising and Career Services, the program allocates $560,000 to alleviate financial burdens for underrepresented students.
Each eligible student can receive a bursary of $2,000.
June 24th onwards for the Summer application, until we run out of funding. Stay tuned for Fall application in October. Remember that the applications are first come first serve so please be ready 9am on June 24th as much as you can.
Eligible applicants must demonstrate financial need, be enrolled full-time, participate in an unpaid WIL placement between May 1 and December 31, 2024, and be legally entitled to work in Canada.
Additional eligibility criteria include:
- WIL employer must be a Canadian organization or have a Canadian office.
- Private sector employers cannot have 500 or more employees.
- Not-for-profit sector employers cannot be members of the House of Commons, the Senate, or engage in partisan political activities.
- If the employer is a post-secondary institution, the experience must be entrepreneurial.
- Public sector or not-for-profit employers must have a charitable number listed on the CRA website.
- Must provide a GST/HST number, charitable number, or payroll number connected to the WIL host employer.
Applications from Humber Polytechnic students must be submitted through MyHumber > Financial Aid. Guelph-Humber students can apply through their academic forms page.
No, the bursary is open to all eligible students at Humber Polytechnic or University of Guelph-Humber participating in approved WIL experiences.
Qualifying WIL experiences include internships, placements, co-ops, and other approved forms as defined by CEWIL.
Yes, international students can apply as long as they meet the eligibility criteria, including being legally entitled to work in Canada.
Your WIL employer must be either a Canadian organization, OR, have a Canadian office. You can refer to the chart above to see if your WIL is eligible
You’ll need to provide details about your WIL experience, employer information, manager’s contact details, and estimates of your expenses for the semester that you participated in your WIL experience.
Yes, you’ll need to provide a GST/HST number, charitable number, or payroll number connected to your WIL host employer.Read more about GST/HST requirements from the GST/HST Resource.
Successful candidates will hear from us by August 30th once all the WIL experiences have been verified. If you do not here from us by then, it indicates that unfortunately, your application did not meet the established threshold of that program
You will hear back by August 30th, 2025 and receive the bursary by September 30th , 2025.
The application process is student-initiated. However, faculty members can encourage eligible students to apply and provide support in completing the application if needed.
Yes, this is only for students in a WIL experience currently (during the Summer 2025 term).
No, if you have been awarded in Winter 2025 already, you will not be eligible in Summer 2025. You can get one bursary for WIL per year.
