The Municipal Internship Program for Land Use Planners is designed to attract recent post-secondary graduates to the field of municipal planning. Its objective is to assist in the training and development of competent, well-rounded municipal planners. It is expected that upon successful completion of the program, interns will be better prepared to enter the municipal planning field in Alberta’s municipalities.

The program provides funding to municipalities and planning service agencies in Alberta so that they can hire and train an intern for a two-year period. During the first year of the program, the intern will be exposed to many different aspects of municipal administration and planning. They will be mentored and coached by a senior planner in their host organization. Program scope is broad so interns have the opportunity to explore many of the key functions of municipal governments and to understand them from a planning perspective. In the second year, interns will have the opportunity to take on more responsibility and gain further experience through involvement in planning projects and issues in their host organization.

The ministry provides a grant to each host municipality to assist with the costs of hosting an intern, such as your salary and professional development expenses.

The ministry designates that the minimum intern salary is $30,000.  Host organizations then determine their salaries individually, based on what is appropriate for that organization, the cost of living in the municipality, and other factors.  On average, intern salaries for the 2011-13 Land Use Planner program range between $43,000 and $55,000.

In addition, you will have the opportunity to attend a minimum of one conference and enroll in a minimum of one professional development course during Year One of your internship, and additional professional development opportunities in Year Two.  You and your supervisor will determine what is most appropriate and valuable for both you and your host organization.

The Workplan provides a solid starting point while affording a great deal of flexibility. It provides each host with a structure to guide the training and learning of the intern and helps ensure that interns are exposed to the key aspects of municipal planning and to gain an understanding of municipal structure, management, and operations. It also sets standards in terms of the requirements to complete the internship program and helps the intern develop competencies essential to municipal planning.

You are also provided with a Guidebook based on the Workplan. The Guidebook contains modules covering various topics related to municipal planning.  Each module contains information, exercises, and activities to undertake to gain first-hand experience in the core areas of planning.

Orientation Session and Workshops

As part of the internship program, Alberta Municipal Affairs provides a four-part series of training workshops.

• Orientations are held for both supervisors and interns at the beginning of the internship in early June.
• An Executive Week for the interns is held approximately half-way through the year. Interns are introduced to numerous ministry staff who present short information sessions on their area of expertise. This is an opportunity for the interns to become more familiar with Municipal Affairs and other provincial ministries and allows them to make contact with key resources they may need to draw on as part of their work.
• A Transition session is held at the end of the first year.  This session covers more topics that will be prevalent as the intern transition from year one into year two of the program such as project management and public consultation.  A Wrap-Up session is held toward the end of the second year to discuss what the interns have learned during their internship, their future plans, and their recommendations for changes to the program based on their experiences.