THUNDER BAY—The Weengushk International Film Festival (WIFF) is one of the groups and organizations benefitting from a FedNor overall investment of over $560,000 to create internship opportunities for Northern Ontario’s youth.
A contribution of $31,500 has enabled WIFF (located in M’Chigeeng First Nation) to hire a youth intern for one-year to develop and execute a marketing events plan to help ensure the sustainability of the festival and the Indigenous film industry in Northern Ontario. Using new virtual technology, the intern will help the festival expand its reach to Indigenous and industry stakeholders across Canada and encourage their continuous participation in both virtual and in-person film festivals.
“Today (August 12), on International Youth Day, we celebrate the important contributions that youth make to our communities. That’s why through FedNor’s youth internship initiative, the government of Canada is investing $563,831 to support internship positions with partners across Northern Ontario,” said the Honourable Patty Hajdu, minister of Indigenous services and minister responsible for FedNor. “These roles will provide talented young graduates with partners across Northern Ontario. These roles will provide talented young graduates with critical work experience in their chosen fields, helping to build our region’s workforce of tomorrow.”
The FedNor contribution will create 12 paid youth internships in Northern Ontario. These internships will support businesses and organizations and help grow and strengthen the region’s economy. The funding supports twelve separate initiatives throughout the region designed to create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, while supporting sustainable economic growth. Specifically, the funding will enable the recipients to hire a youth intern with expertise in a specific field for a one or two-year period, helping the employer to advance key projects.
With backgrounds in science, communications and marketing, the interns’ responsibilities will range from assisting with the development of communication tools and social media strategies to strategic plan implementation, market research and municipal asset inventory and analysis.
