Health Canada - Health Products and Food Branch - Bureau of Nutritional Sciences

Ottawa (Ontario)

ST-UDE-NT

The student will be expected to work approximately 20-35 hours per week and be willing to commit to the research project for a period of about 24 months. Ideally starting in January 2026.

$25.17 to $38.38 per hour

For further information on the organization, please visit Health Canada

Closing date: 15 October 2025 - 23:59, Pacific Time

Who can apply: Persons residing in Canada and Canadian citizens residing abroad.

To be considered for Research Affiliate Program (RAP) work opportunities, you must meet the following criteria:
Be a full-time student in a recognized post-secondary institution.
Be enrolled in an academic degree program that requires research as part of your curriculum.
Meet the minimum age required in the province/territory of work.

This includes students with physical or emotional disabilities deemed to have full-time status by their academic institution. Adult students registered in education and retraining programs at the secondary level may also be eligible for student employment programs.

Note: Preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents who meet the job requirements.

Apply online

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request specialized accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

Give yourself the best chance to succeed! As the objective of this process is to assess qualifications needed for the position(s) to be staffed, let us know if you have a functional limitation/ disability, which may affect your performance. For example, contact us if you need assistance in completing and submitting your application. Should you then proceed to the next assessment stage, such as an exam or interview, we will send you an e-mail with additional information on the assessment format so that you can determine if you may require an accommodation (such as a different test format, an adaptive technology, or additional time). Assessment accommodations are designed to remove the obstacles without altering the criteria being assessed so candidates with functional limitations can fully demonstrate their abilities.

You may also review jobs open to the public through INFOTEL at 1-800-645-5605. The INFOTEL number for persons using a TTY/TDD is 1-800-532-9397.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency are dedicated to building an inclusive workforce that comprises individuals who have an array of identities, abilities, background, culture, skills, perspectives, and experiences that are representative of Canada’s current and evolving population. We are passionate about fostering a workplace where all people feel welcome, can reach their full potential, and contribute their unique perspectives and experience to the success of the team.

BRING YOUR WHOLE SELF TO WORK
We encourage all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex (including gender identity and/or expression), national origin, sexual orientation, civil union or relationship status, disability, age, parental status, military service, or other status protected under federal law.

Health Canada is committed to increasing representation of Black employees and other racialized groups, Indigenous People, women and persons with disabilities. Health Canada would like its workforce to be reflective of the population it serves. Therefore, we encourage candidates to indicate voluntarily on their application if they are a member of one of these groups.

Health Canada welcomes applications from Veterans. We recognize your contribution to Canadians and would like to offer you the opportunity to continue your career in an environment where multi-talented employees with diverse skills are appreciated and supported.

Duties

The RAP student will be participating in laboratory-based research and development activities at Health Canada’s Food and Nutrition Directorate (FND). The RAP student will have to complete the academic requirements successfully and abide by Health Canada’s code of conduct as well as information technology security and laboratory health and safety requirements. The laboratory-based research and development activities will be at Health Canada’s Bureau of Nutritional Sciences in support of a Genomics Research and Development Initiative-funded project aiming to assess the risk of high dose folic acid intake. Examples of duties will include:

• Use of microbiological assays to assess tissue folate
• Use of molecular biology techniques to assess markers of genome stability
• Use of genome wide sequencing techniques such as RNA-seq to assess gene expression
• Statistical and bioinformatics analyses of datasets

Work environment

Are you interested in working at a cutting-edge organization that values both your physical and psychological health and wellness, provides rich career development opportunities and rewards innovation? Health Canada has been recognized as one of the Top Employers for Young People for five years running and as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for the past ten years! Don’t miss your opportunity to not only enjoy the unparalleled benefits of the public service, but to get so much more on our award-winning team!

Intent of the process

The immediate need is to staff two positions in the NCR where the RAP student will be required to physically go into the work building.

Positions to be filled: 2

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

Eligibility

You are eligible for this program if you meet these 3 requirements:

• You are a full-time student in a post-secondary institution

• You are enrolled in an academic program that requires research as part of your curriculum

• You meet the minimum age required in the province/territory of work

This includes students with physical or emotional disabilities deemed to have full-time status by their academic institution. Adult students registered in education and retraining programs at the secondary level may also be eligible for student employment programs. See our site for additional details.

Contact information for 2 references.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

EDUCATION:

EDU1: Graduation with an acceptable bachelor’s degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in a field of the natural sciences related to the duties of the position.

By the start date, the student must be recognized as having full-time student status in a Master’s or PhD degree program at the Faculty of Sciences in the Department of Biology at Carleton University. By the start date, the student must be in their first year of a Master’s or PhD program, for which supervised laboratory or field research is required for graduation.

Note: Proof of enrollment will be required prior to start date and the student must be returning to full-time studies for the next academic term.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE:
EX1: Experience working in a molecular or cellular biology laboratory.

EX2: Experience in reviewing, interpreting and summarizing scientific data.

KNOWLEDGE:
K1: Knowledge of principles of biostatistics.

COMPETENCIES:

C1: Adaptability
C2: Initiative
C3: Judgment
C4: Teamwork
C5: Respectful of Diversity

ABILITIES:
AB1: Ability to communicate effectively orally.

AB2: Ability to communicate effectively in writing (to be assessed via the candidate’s application).

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

English essential

Information on language requirements

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS
EXPERIENCE:
AEX1: Experience performing research using animal models.

AEX2: Experience performing bioinformatics.

KNOWLEDGE:
AK1: Knowledge of nutrition.
AK2: Knowledge of DNA repair and mutagenesis.

• Willingness and ability to occasionally travel (within and/or outside Canada).
• Willingness and ability to work overtime on short notice or without notice.

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

Medical clearance

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

Please note that your resume, and you responses to the screening questionnaire will be used to evaluate your ability to communicate effectively in writing.

Candidates may be required to meet the asset qualifications or the organizational needs, depending on the requirements of the specific position being staffed. Meeting one or many of the asset qualifications may be a deciding factor in appointing a particular candidate amongst the qualified candidates. Please note that some or all of the asset qualifications could be used at the screening phase.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred official language in their application.

For this process, emails are the most efficient way to communicate with you. Candidates who apply to this selection process must include an email address that accepts email from unknown users (some email systems block these types of email). If you do not wish to receive results by email or if you change your email address during the process, it is your responsibility to inform us.

Please note that candidates are responsible for submitting their application by the closing date in order to be considered. All applications should be submitted online through the PSRS system ( accomd needs will be accept ). No applications will be accepted once the deadline has passed. Candidates will not be solicited for incomplete or possibly missing information.
NOTE: The PSRS system will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity which may result in your inability to save your work or loss of data. It is recommended that you draft all responses in another document on your PC which may be saved (e.g. in MS Word or WordPerfect) and copy/paste into the PSRS system when completed.

Please note that volume management strategies, such as random selection, top-down approach, invoking any asset(s) and/or cut-off scores, may be used at any point in the staffing process for the purpose of managing volumes of applications/candidates.

Proof of citizenship or Permanent Residence will be required.

Proof of education will be required which includes diploma(s) and transcript(s). Candidates with foreign credentials must provide proof of Canadian equivalency. Consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca.

All candidates that apply to this selection process must include in their application a valid email address and ensure that this address is functional at all times and that it accepts messages from unknown users. Failure to do so may result in important messages not being received. Communication for this process will be conducted via the e-mail address provided in your application. It is your responsibility to ensure that you check for messages regularly.

Preference

Preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.