Local Government Internship Hosts

Welcome to the Local Government Internship Program

Applications to host an intern are now closed. They will open again for the 2026 intake later this year. Find more information and details below. For questions about the program contact: Teressa Johnson, Program Manager, at tjohnson@lgma.ca or phone: 250-383-7032, ext.: 225. Any questions regarding the application form contact office@lgma.ca

The Local Government Management Association (LGMA), with the generous financial support of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, will reinvigorate the Local Government Internship Program (LGIP) to support local government capacity. The former LGMA Internship program was piloted in 2008-2011 and was extremely successful in training and developing recent post-secondary graduates to become future leaders in the local government field. Building on this success, the revised Local Government Internship Program will be piloted over 3 years, with an added mentorship component. Each year, funding will be provided to six local governments to each host one intern.

Reasons to host an intern

They bring willingness to learn, energy, and initiative.
They add capacity to your team.
They bring fresh ideas and creative solutions to challenges.
They promote local government to friends, family, and other post-secondary students.
They are the next generation of local government leaders.
They provide mentorship opportunities for your current team members.

Local government eligibility

Eligibility requirements to host an intern include:

BC local governments with a population of 25,000 or under are eligible to apply to host an intern.
Organizational capacity to train an intern in all facets of local government.
Ability to commit time and resources (funding and staff) to support an intern.
Provide support to an intern to explore local government functional areas with the intent of providing a management career-path oriented experience.
Senior manager or CAO has agreed to serve as mentor and has supervisory, mentoring, coaching, and technical skills to be an effective supervisor. When the mentor is on leave and/or vacation, there is organizational capacity for an alternate supervisor to step in as the designated mentor and continue providing support to an intern.
Full support from Council and Administration to host an intern.

Host responsibilities

Hosting an intern requires financial and staff resources, and considerable time to mentor and train the intern. Key host responsibilities include:

Strong organizational (Council and Administrative) support to host an intern.
Strong standards in place for codes of conduct, health and safety, and other policies to build a healthy and productive workplace.
Build insight into local government and the relationship between different functional areas, and how the areas function as a whole.
Develop an Intern Work Plan that provides intern rotation to various areas in local government to gain understanding about functional areas. Key areas include but are not limited to: Governance, Administration, Financial Services, Human Resources, Indigenous Relations, and Land Use Planning. Additional opportunities in other functional areas are encouraged.
Provide experiential learning opportunities such as participation in projects and time to reflect on experiences through mentoring and coaching by the supervisor and other staff
Provide professional development opportunities such as attendance at the LGMA Annual Conference, Foundations of Local Government course, LGIP workshops and check-ins, and opportunities to complete site visits to other local governments. Participation in additional educational courses/workshops opportunities is recommended to expand interns’ knowledge and skills in the field.

Note:

Interns cannot be existing or recent employees. If a candidate worked on a temporary summer assignment, casual (on call-in or irregular hours) position, or co-op student they can be considered.
Only interns who apply to the program (see Intern page for application details) will be shortlisted for the Internship program).

Funding, support, and local government contributions

Funding and support provided to successful hosts includes:

$42,000 for intern compensation (salary, benefits, and payroll deductions).
$5,000 for professional development, LGMA association membership fees, travel costs to attend Internship workshops, etc.
Local governments are expected to financially contribute to the cost of hosting an intern including their salary and professional development opportunities (a minimum $5,000 required for salary and $2,500 for professional development).
A signature from the CAO indicating Council support for financial contribution towards intern salary and professional development is required on the host application form.
Six internship opportunities (one per LGMA region) are available each year for a three-year period, including one intern position which will administered in partnership with Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT). Applicants for this internship position should apply via the NDIT website and follow their requirements, timelines, and procedures. The Northern internship compensation will be $45,000 for the intern salary and $5,000 for professional development, with an additional $10,000 available for housing support (follow NDIT process for housing supports). For more information visit the NDIT website.
Interns and supervisors will receive support from the LGMA such as onboarding, resources, coaching, mentoring, and check-in meetings.
A Local Government Internship Program Advisory Committee will review applications and make recommendations regarding the successful hosts that best meet the criteria above.
Hosts will be notified by the end of November regarding the status of their application.
Successful hosts must complete a contract that sets out the terms of hosting an intern, complete a detailed Intern Work Plan, and interim and final reporting.
Host local governments will receive funding by March 31, 2025.