Wood is proud to celebrate the success of our Indigenous Summer Internship Program in Canada, a cornerstone initiative that reflects our commitment to inclusion, reconciliation and talent development. In the summer of 2025, we welcomed five Indigenous engineering students to our Calgary office, where they joined a cohort of interns working on real-world projects and gaining valuable industry experience.
Wood’s Indigenous Summer Internship Program is designed to provide meaningful work experience to Indigenous students pursuing careers in engineering and related fields. Interns are integrated into project teams, mentored by experienced professionals and exposed to various aspects of the energy sector. The program aims to foster professional growth, build confidence and create pathways to long-term careers in engineering.
Hear from our interns
Ella Johnson, 21, from Montreal Lake Cree Nation, is a Mechanical Engineering and Business student at the University of Calgary and President of the Engineering Students' Society. She shared, “Learning and gaining insight into how projects operate outside of school was incredibly valuable. Observing the collaboration between procurement and engineering teams highlighted the complexity required for real-world project delivery. What set the experience apart was the people - everyone was always willing to help provide answers to any question I had. Wood values community, and that was clear through Wood’s early careers program and their top-notch events centered on networking and education.”
Caden Kjelgren, 20, from the Skwah band in the Sto:lo Nation, is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Calgary. He noted, “I enjoyed working on various presentations with my fellow interns. Having senior leaders at Wood be intrigued and interested in what I had to say felt fulfilling and rewarding. The people and culture across Wood were a standout to me, from the mangers I worked with directly, to the leadership team and the developing professionals' group thoroughbreds. From the beginning, I was engaged in multiple opportunities to engage in real-world projects while also maintaining the flexibility and encouragement to develop my personal professional goals and aspirations”.
Alex Marthiensen, 28, from Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories, returned to Wood for a second summer. He said, “I came back because of the knowledge I gained and the welcoming atmosphere. The people at Wood are the best part. I enjoyed knowing that everything I worked on was used on real projects, it gave me a huge sense of accomplishment.”
Impact and Representation
The program has had a profound impact on both the interns and Wood’s organisation. interns gain exposure to industry regulations, client meetings, site visits and collaborative project work. They also develop a deeper understanding of the role Indigenous professionals can play in shaping the future of engineering. Indigenous engineers make up less than 1% of Canadian engineers which underscores the importance of these initiatives.
Indspire Scholarship Program
In 2024, Wood renewed its three-year $100,000 commitment to Indspire, a national Indigenous charity that supports Indigenous students across Canada.
Indspire invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people to support these individuals, their families, Indigenous communities and Canada through post-secondary schooling. The full charitable contribution qualifies for matched funding from the Canadian federal government, doubling the impact of our scholarship donation to $200,000 Canadian.
Through our partnership with Indspire, bursaries are available to Indigenous students in Canadian provinces where Wood is located and in educational programs tailored to careers in engineering, construction management, trade and craft, finance, business, administration, safety and human resources.
Wood has hired two bursary recipients through this program who worked in Calgary as interns for the last two summers. Providing avenues to career development is important to Wood, and we continue to seek ways to support our future generation of Indigenous engineers.
Pictured: Calgary’s Intern Program attending a Lunch and Learn
Future Plans
Wood is committed to expanding the Indigenous Summer Internship Program in Canada. We aim to increase the number of participants, deepen our community partnerships and create more opportunities for mentorship and career development. Our goal is to build a more inclusive workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.