CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Thirty-one young adults on Prince Edward Island recently completed the 15th edition of the PERCÉ summer internship program.
Run by RDÉE Prince Edward Island, the program is open to students in their last or second-last year of post-secondary studies who are placed in summer positions in their field of studies on P.E.I.
RDÉE’s youth development officer Stéphane Blanchard says the program continues to encourage Island youth, many of whom are studying in out-of-province institutions, to return to the Island once their studies have been completed. The program helps them discover the fact that real possibilities for a fulfilling life and career await them at home.
“If our retention/repatriation rate maintains itself, it will mean that more than 80 per cent of these young adults will eventually settle permanently on the Island to contribute to our economy,” said Blanchard. “When our program began 15 years ago, we were desperately hoping that we could convince about 25 per cent of participants to return to the Island. Year after year, the results considerably surpass our original expectations.”
The 2018 interns and their employers all noted in their final and mid-summer evaluations that they had enjoyed and appreciated their PERCÉ experience.
The youth said they benefitted from hands-on work experience after their years of classroom theoretical learning. The employers said they liked having access to young, enthusiastic and energetic workers, in addition to the salary incentives they received from the program.
Among their employers were private businesses, community groups, charitable organizations, post-secondary institutions, government agencies, seniors’ care centers, a hospital, early childhood centers and others.
These last few years, the program receives 80-100 applications per summer. Lately, the RDÉE had received government funding for a total of 360 weeks of internship per year.
The PERCÉ program received a contribution of $88,500 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Business Development Program this year, along with $47,000 from the provincial Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning to cover costs associated with coordination and promotion of the program, the participants’ orientation week and the employers’ wage incentives.
Among the 2018 participants in the PERCÉ internship:
• 10 were in placements related to health and leisure (seniors care, sports and games, nutrition, Alzheimer and veterinary care)
• Seven were in educational internships (early childhood, literacy, culture)
• Seven were in arts internships (artistic administration and coordination, music, theatre, video production)
• Four were in engineering placements (physics, engineering laboratories)
• Three were in law internships (legal information, politics)
