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JA Virtual Company Has a Place for You!

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Smiling JA mentors on Zoom call 15 WEEKS. 1 VIRTUAL COMPANY. UNLIMITED POTENTIAL. 

 

Are you creative?

Do you want to learn how to start and run a business?

Are you looking to spice up your college and university applications or gain experience?

Do you want to learn about e-commerce and how to create a Shopify online store?

JA’s Company Program allows high school students to take a four-month journey to gain first-hand experience in business and entrepreneurship.

Over 16 weekly sessions, students will have the opportunity to create and operate their own business in teams of 10-12 students with the guidance of volunteer mentors from the local business community. Students will use real money, products/services, and have real customers.

Company program is FREE and gives students the opportunity to participate in real-world experience, helping them build their confidence and go beyond what they think is possible.

Company program begins during the second week of February and will run 15 weeks. In 2021, the JA Company program will be run virtually! Time commitment is 1.5 hours online per week plus some offline time. Sessions are held Tuesday or Wednesday starting around at either 3:30pm or 4:30pm (your choice!). JA Virtual Company is offered as a pilot program in English only. For French opportunities, contact JA Ottawa.

We are also offering a special Speakers Series featuring local entrepreneurial success and inspirational stories that will be held each Monday afternoon (time commitment is one hour maximum) for registered participants.

Student registration is first-come, first-serve. Please fill out the form with your full availability to increase the chances of being placed in a company. You will first have to register with Better Impact. Then there is a series of questions. Your parent or guardian will receive a link to give permission to participate which must be completed as soon as possible.

Initial registration for the 15-week JA Virtual Company Program is now closed. If you are still interested in applying, there is the option of participating in the 14-week program, starting next week. If this interests you, please register by Sunday, February 14, 2021.

Registration Links

Desktop or laptop users click here.

Mobile or tablet users click here.

Still thinking about signing up for JA Company?… see what Imani had to say about his experience. Learn soft skills that can shape your future!

Hi Mrs. Morency,

I just wanted to thank you again for the experience I got to be a part of with JA! I just recently got hired as a customer service associate at TD Bank! One of the things that the hiring manager wanted to know more about, in my interview, was the experience of JA and being nominated for President of the Year! She was extremely impressed by it!

Thanks,
Imani

 

 

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4 Comments

  1. Hello!

    I’m an employment consultant with 1 of the local Employment Ontario centres. I have a client in high school who may benefit from this program. I have a couple of questions:
    – do applicants need to have a business idea in mind or is there a pre-established type of business they will work on? If so, do you have any info on what kind of business they’d work on or are they learning self-employment skills in general?

    – does the program offer any hourly pay through participating? (no problem if not – just checking as some youth programs seem to offer an hourly pay through Employment Ontario)

    Thank-you – great opportunity either way!
    Tara Wheeldon
    Employment consultant
    St. Lawrence College – Employment Services Ottawa

    1. Hi Tara, thanks for the questions!
      – Students come up with their own business idea together and take a vote. Students do not need to have an idea in mind to participate.
      – There is no hourly pay. However, many students choose to continue to run their businesses after the program is over.

      If you have further questions, please let us know. There will be a Q&A session hosted for parents on Wednesday, February 2, 2021 from 5:00-6:00pm EST, registration link is here: https://bit.ly/3aa50wb

  2. Hi, this seems like a wonderful opportunity! I’m a grade 11 student from Ottawa and I was wondering if participants are unable to attend to sessions live due to time conflicts, will that be ok? And if so, will there be recorded zooms accessible to watch?

    1. Thanks for the question! The JA Virtual Company program will have all synchronous meetings and students will have to attend during the assigned time slot. Sessions will not be recorded. If there are one or two instances where you will have to miss the session, that can be discussed with your mentors. However, if you have a consistent conflict and have to miss numerous sessions, you will not be able to participate this year.

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