Find a Job in International Development

Many avenues are open to skilled individuals who wish to work in international development, either with CIDA or with its partners:

1. Work for CIDA on a temporary or permanent basis as a federal public servant
2. Contract with CIDA as a cooperant in a developing country
3. Work as an intern through CIDA's International Youth Internship Program or through CIDA's International Aboriginal Youth Internships initiative
4. Work as an advisor or volunteer with a non-governmental organization
5. Work in as an advisor on contract with an executing agency carrying out a CIDA project
6. Work as a technical advisor on contract with a United Nations agency in a developing country
7. Become a development officer at CIDA

CIDA also contracts with consultants in support of its assistance programs and projects. These contracts are usually issued through competitions in the Canadian private sector or through CIDA's consultants database.

If you are a youth, visit CIDA's Youth Zone for more internship and volunteer opportunities.

If you have any comments or questions, contact CIDA by phone or email:

Telephone: 819-997-5006
Toll-free 1-800-230-6349
Email: info@acdi-cida.gc.ca

1. Work for CIDA on a temporary or permanent basis as a federal public servant

The Public Service of Canada is constantly hiring at all levels to ensure that it has the skills, knowledge, and talent base to meet the evolving needs of Canadians and the mandates of each department and agency, including CIDA.

As the nation's largest employer, the Public Service of Canada offers a broad diversity of careers in locations throughout Canada and, particularly in CIDA's case, around the world. Duties and requirements for skills and experience vary with the position.

When recruiting from outside the public service, preference is given to Canadian citizens, in accordance with the PublicService Employment Act.

How to apply

CIDA recruits employees from outside the public service through the services of the Public Service Commission (PSC), which lists job opportunities open to the public on their Careers in the federal public service website.

The PSC may list some positions separately:

• If you are a postsecondary graduate or will be shortly and are interested in a career in international development with CIDA, visit the PSC's Post-Secondary Recruitment site
• If you are a full-time student looking for summer or part-time employment with CIDA, visit the PSC's Federal Student Work Experience Program site
• If you are enrolled in a work-study program, visit your educational institution's internship office
• If you are presently a federal public service employee or an employee in private business, another level of government, a Crown corporation, a union, an academic institution, or a non-profit organization, you could work with CIDA for a determinate period through Interchange Canada, a program that promotes lasting bridges between the federal public sector and all other sectors, both within Canada and internationally, by offering employees from one sector a temporary assignment in another sector

2. Contract with CIDA as a cooperant in a developing country

Cooperants are individuals with specialized professional or technical expertise under contract with CIDA for services in developing countries. To contract with CIDA, you must be registered in CIDA's cooperants database.

Cooperants database eligibility criteria

To be eligible for registration as a cooperant, you must:

• Be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status
• Be living permanently in Canada, or be working outside Canada on a CIDA-funded project or at the request of the Government of Canada
• Have at least three years of relevant experience in key domains

How to apply

Should you meet the cooperants database eligibility criteria, send your résumé to:

Email: inscription.cooperant@acdi-cida.gc.ca or

Technical Assistance Unit
Canadian International Development Agency
200 Promenade du Portage
8th Floor
Gatineau, QC K1A 0G4

Note: CIDA will only respond, within twenty working days, to candidates who meet the eligibility criteria.

Your résumé will be reviewed upon receipt. Should you meet the cooperants database eligibility criteria, an "Application to Register with CIDA" form will be sent to you.

Upon receipt of the duly completed form, the information you have provided will be entered in the cooperants database. CIDA will then contact you to validate this information.

Please note that registration in the cooperants database does not guarantee a contract offer.

3. Work as an intern through CIDA's International Youth Internship Program or through CIDA's the International Aboriginal Youth Internships initiative

The International Youth Internship Program is part of the Career Focus stream of the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy (YES), which provides Canadian youth with tools and experience they need to launch successful careers.

As part of this program, CIDA funds Canadian partner organizations to implement projects that provide Canadian graduates between the ages of 19 and 30 internship opportunities in international development.

The International Aboriginal Youth Internships initiative provides opportunities for Aboriginal youth to participate in international internships in developing countries.

4. Work as an advisor or volunteer with a non-governmental organization

CIDA establishes partnerships with many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that carry out international development work overseas. Contracts with a variety of professional and technical duties in all sectors of international development are available with several of these NGOs for work as an advisor or volunteer. Postings in a developing country are usually for two years and must be approved by the partner organization in the field. Remuneration varies from one organization to the other and generally includes a living allowance and other forms of compensation. Requirements also vary from one organization to another but generally include:

• Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status
• Relevant professional qualifications
• Experience in the sector concerned
• Belief in the organization's direction and objectives

Apply directly by sending your résumé to the appropriate NGOs. The following list comprises the principal CIDA-supported NGOs that send advisors or volunteers to developing countries.

Canada World Youth (CWY)

Canada World Youth (CWY) designs international educational programs with a focus on volunteer work and community development for youth aged 15 to 29.

Since 1971, CWY has provided more than 33,000 youth safe opportunities by which to gain enriching international experience, learn about other cultures, and become informed and action-oriented global citizens.

Working in partnership with local organizations, CWY programs are two-part, with one phase in Canada and the other in another country in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the West Indies, or Eastern Europe.

Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI)

Each year through its volunteer cooperation programs, the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) sends volunteers abroad on two-week to two-year mandates to work on development projects. Volunteers must have qualifications or expertise in sectors such as:

• Humanitarian aid
• Health, including HIV/AID intervention
• Primary education, occupational training, and university teaching
• Economic development and fair trade
• Agriculture
• Governance and equality between women and men

Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC)

The Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) is a coalition of Canadian voluntary sector organizations working globally with a variety of positions in Canada and abroad.

Requirements are set by the affiliated voluntary organization but generally include the following:

• Relevant experience
• Knowledge of international development and foreign affairs
• Belief in the organization's direction and objectives

The Council maintains a list of job opportunities currently available in international development.

Canadian Crossroads International (CCI)

Canadian Crossroads International (CCI) works with local organizations in West Africa, Southern Africa, and South America that are fighting extreme poverty and the non-respect of women's rights.

Through international volunteering and partnership programs, CCI leverages expertise and resources necessary to address these challenges.

Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO)

The Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) has one of the biggest resource banks of Canadian professional and technical expertise.

Together with CIDA, its principal funder, CESO sends experts registered in its database to developing countries to assist individuals, businesses, communities, and non-government agencies in carrying out projects related to social and economic development, governance, and environmental sustainability.

Each year, more than 500 volunteers from the CESO database are sent on assignment.

CUSO-VSO

CUSO-VSO, the result of a merger, in 2008, of the Canadian University Service Overseas founded in 1961 with the Voluntary Service Overseas, aims to bring expertise from Canada and developing countries together through volunteer placements, mutual collaboration, training, programming, exchanges, and the sharing of resources.

Each year, CUSO-VSO places hundreds of volunteers in more than 40 developing countries, in Africa, the Asia and Pacific region, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB)

Each year, Engineers Without Borders (EWB) sends multidisciplinary individuals with specific technical knowledge abroad on short- and long-term placements to promote human development in some of the world's poorest communities.

These volunteer workers help local organizations and entrepreneurs acquire the knowledge, access the technologies, and build the capacities required in finding innovative and appropriate solutions to poverty.

OXFAM-Québec

OXFAM-Québec sends interns and volunteer advisors for periods of six months to two years to Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia to participate in sustainable development projects.

OXFAM-Québec is dedicated to building the capacity of its partners and colleagues in developing countries to implement sustainable solutions to poverty.

Solidarité, Union, Coopération (SUCO) (in French)

Solidarité, Union, Coopération (SUCO) is an international cooperation agency that, by sending advisors and interns to developing countries in West Africa, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, aims to:

• Promote the participation of disadvantaged people in development through empowerment and capacity building
• Support the establishment of a participatory democracy that is respectful of individuals and their environment
• Incite Canadians to common action by educating them about the realities and challenges of international development

Volunteer Canada

Volunteer Canada is committed to increasing and supporting volunteerism in Canada. Working with volunteer centres, community and national organizations and businesses, Volunteer Canada provides useful information on volunteer opportunities both in Canada and abroad.

World University Service of Canada (WUSC)

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) provides qualified individuals and post-secondary students with unique and exciting opportunities to volunteer in Canada and in developing countries. WUSC currently has active projects in southern and western Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

WUSC also implements development awareness programs for youth through its network of members and local committees on college and university campuses across Canada.

Youth Challenge International (YCI)

Youth Challenge International (YCI) carries out projects that address the needs of youth in the following major sustainable development sectors:

• Leadership
• Environment
• Economic development
• Health
• Education

These short- and long-term projects are conducted by young volunteers and development professionals. YCI uses a participative approach in which local youth in developing countries actively take part in the projects.

5. Work as an advisor on contract with an executing agency carrying out a CIDA project

CIDA delegates the management of some projects to private sector firms, universities or colleges, Canadian non-government organizations or institutions, and provincial or territorial government departments, commonly known as executing agencies. These projects comprise a variety of professional or technical activities in all development sectors. The executing agency sets the contract requirements, which generally include:

• Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status
• Required skills and experience
• Experience in the field

To apply for a position with one of CIDA's partners, send your résumé directly to the organization. Executing agencies generally list positions on their website; others use the career sections of local or national newspapers.

6. Work as a technical advisor on contract with a United Nations agency in a developing country

The Government of Canada collaborates with several United Nations (UN) agencies whose mandates relate to international development. These agencies include:

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• World Health Organization (WHO)

These agencies contract with professional, scientific, or technical experts. To obtain a contract in Canada, candidates must satisfy various requirements, which generally include:

• Canadian citizenship
• University degree in a relevant field
• Minimum five years' experience in the field concerned (preferably in a developing country)

Candidates must apply directly to the agency.

7. Become a development officer at CIDA

The New Development Officers Program is a recruitment and career development program aimed at renewing CIDA's population of development officers. The program establishes a development framework for recruits to acquire the competencies required of a development officer at the PM-4 level.

The date of the next campaign has yet to be determined. Information will be posted on Careers in the federal public service as it becomes available.