Work Experience Opportunities Grant
About the Grant
People on income and disability assistance and Indigenous people receiving equivalent federal assistance often face barriers to employment and can find it difficult to secure meaningful work.
United Way BC’s Work Experience Opportunities Grant provides BC non-profit organizations with funding to create time-limited paid work opportunities where program participants receive essential skills training and hands-on paid work experience to improve their employability while preparing them for in-demand jobs.
Additional income earned by program participants does not affect income or disability-assistance benefits.
This province-wide grant stream supports BC non-profit organizations to deliver paid placements and enhance programs and services offered.
Is the Work Experience Opportunities Grant (WEOG) an employment program?
No. WEOG is work experience, not employment. Participants receive a stipend, not wages. BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) clients who participate in work experience are specifically exempted from being considered “employees” under the Employment Standards Act through Section 32(3) of the Employment Standards Regulation.
How will clients benefit from these placements?
The grant was made available to non-profit organizations to deliver work experience placements for BCEA clients who will receive financial support to develop life and essential skills to aid them in their connection to the labour market and provide enhanced community benefit.
Who is eligible
- BCEA clients including:
- Income Assistance (IA)
- Disability Assistance (DA)
- Hardship Assistance (HA) recipients
- Income assistance through the Person with Persistent Multiple Barriers to Employment (PPMB) benefit
- Indigenous individuals on reserve or within treaty lands receiving or eligible to receive federal assistance.
