Below are answers to some frequently asked questions regarding our university recruitment campaign. If you have questions that are not addressed below or elsewhere on our website, please contact us at: UR-RU@fin.gc.ca.
Finance Canada hires university recruits through three streams. Most recruits are hired through the Economist and Policy Analyst stream, which is open to recent graduates at the Master's level in our four target disciplines:
The two other streams are highly specialized. The Tax Legislation stream is open to those with training in law, taxation or accounting and who wish to pursue a career as a specialist in income or sales tax. The Doctoral Researcher stream is aimed at recent Ph.D. graduates who wish to conduct theoretical and empirical research. Information about the application process for these two streams can be found here.
Finance Canada does not generally hire summer students as policy analysts or economists. Occasionally, some managers hire students temporarily to work on specific projects. These are not part of the university recruitment campaign.
Applications for the Economist and Policy Analyst stream are submitted online through Finance Canada's website. For the 2009 campaign, applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on October 13, 2009. Applications submitted by other means (e.g., mail, fax) and those submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
The official requirements can be found here. To be eligible to apply, you must:
Finance Canada's economists and analysts contribute to a range of important and interesting policy issues, many of which do not require expertise in traditional economics. However, as we advise the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister on issues from an economic perspective, we require all analysts to have a good grasp of economic principles.
Finance Canada requires applicants to have the equivalent of three full-year economics courses (e.g., six half-year courses, or two full-year courses and two half-year courses). Applicants who are pursuing a graduate degree in finance may be eligible even if they do not have the equivalent courses in economics. We will accept economics courses at either the graduate or undergraduate university level. We do not accept courses at the college or CEGEP levels.
We will accept courses that are offered outside of a school's economics department (e.g., through a business school), as long as they are grounded solidly in economics. We reserve the right to make this decision. If you would like us to take into account a course that is offered outside of an economics department, we highly recommend that you provide us with a description of the course from your school's course calendar or syllabus.
Residents of Canada who are not Canadian citizens may apply through our Economist and Policy Analyst stream. We first invite eligible Canadian applicants to interview with us. Non-Canadians will be interviewed only if we are unable to meet our recruitment needs from the pool of Canadian applicants.
Generally, if you are graduating from a discipline that is not among the four specified, you are not eligible to apply to our Economist and Policy Analyst recruitment stream.
However, we are willing to consider applicants from programs that are similar to our target areas. For example, we may consider your application if you are graduating with a degree in "international economics" or "economic policy". We reserve the right to make this decision.
The written assignments are intended to evaluate your written communication skills, analytical thinking, and knowledge. You will be asked to respond to a general question, as well as some follow-up questions. The first written assignment must be submitted as part of the online application. The second assignment will be conducted as part of the second round interview process.
The first-round interviews occur in late October or early November at most major universities in Canada. We decide where to send recruiters based on the number and location of this year's applicants. We will arrange a phone interview for candidates who are unable to interview at one of these campuses (e.g., if you are applying from overseas). Interviews take place in the candidate's official language of choice.
Our recruiters are usually on each campus for a day or two. While we will attempt to work around your commitments, such as an exam, we ask you to be flexible due to our tight timelines. For example, we may ask candidates from one university to interview at another university nearby (e.g., we may ask Concordia students to interview at the Université de Montréal).
Our recruiters will contact you in mid- or late October to invite you to a first-round interview. Some recruiters may contact you directly, based on the information you provided through your online application. Others may arrange interviews through your university's career services centre or departmental/graduate coordinator. When and how we contact you will differ among schools. Applicants who are not invited to continue with the recruitment process will not be contacted.
The first-round interviews consist of an oral interview lasting 45 minutes. You will interview with two recruiters, who will ask questions designed to evaluate the competencies necessary to work at Finance Canada. To ensure consistency and fairness, candidates will be offered the same set of questions and will be evaluated using a common template. The interview will take place in the official language of your choice.
The focus of the first-round interview process is to evaluate whether a candidate possesses the competencies necessary to work at Finance Canada. These competencies include:
To help you prepare for the interview, we recommend that you review our "Candidate Tips and Tricks".
The second-round interviews take place over two days in mid-January in Ottawa. Finance Canada will provide for reasonable transportation to and from the city, as well as appropriate accommodation for the duration of the interview process.
Occasionally, some invited individuals choose not to attend the second-round interviews. Should this occur, we may contact others from the first-round process during, or even after, the holidays and invite them to join us.
The focus of the second-round interviews is to determine how each candidate's specific skills, interests and aptitudes match the needs of Finance Canada—we are trying to determine the "best fit" between candidates and our teams.
You will interview with one or more teams across the Department and each interview will last about 45 minutes. Each interview may vary in style and format as it is hosted by a different manager or team.
The second-round interviews also offer you the opportunity to learn about the different areas of the Department, and to determine which area best matches your interests. At the end of the interview process, you will be asked to indicate your preferences regarding which teams you would most like to join.
In 2008, Finance Canada received 350 initial applications. Of these, 179 were invited to attend a first-round interview and 71 were invited to attend a second-round interview.
Each year, Finance Canada hires between 25 and 30 strong candidates through our Economist and Policy Analyst stream.
Managers begin to make employment offers 2-3 weeks after the second-round interviews. These offers are conditional on a few requirements (e.g., having graduated, achieving your secret security clearance). When a conditional offer has been accepted, we begin to process the required paperwork.
You have flexibility when determining your actual start date, based on your availability and your new manager's operational requirements. While some recruits start right away, many choose to begin over the summer and in the early fall.