The verdict in three sentences
With 2,500 students and 900 internships a year, managing placements by email, PDF and Excel often ties up two to three full-time staff in the career and corporate relations office. A custom internship management platform costs 60,000 to 150,000 CAD in Montreal in 2026 and ships in 3 to 4 months. It pays back through staff time saved, and above all through the graduate employment statistics that rankings, accreditation bodies and prospective students ask for.
The hidden cost of today's process
An internship agreement usually needs four signatories: student, employer, academic supervisor and school. Each back-and-forth takes days. Here is a 2026 estimate of staff time per internship, before and after a platform.
| Task per internship | Manual process | With platform | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Posting and screening offers | 45 min | 10 min | 35 min |
| Drafting and signing the agreement | 90 min | 15 min | 75 min |
| Chasing employers and supervisors | 40 min | 5 min (automated) | 35 min |
| Collecting end-of-internship evaluations | 35 min | 5 min | 30 min |
| Entering data for employment statistics | 25 min | 0 min | 25 min |
| Total per internship | 3 h 55 | 35 min | 3 h 20 |
Across 900 internships, that is about 3,000 hours a year, close to two full-time roles. With a loaded cost of 65,000 to 80,000 CAD per year for a career services coordinator in Montreal, the potential saving exceeds 120,000 CAD a year, before counting fewer late agreements.
Modules and their price in the Montreal market
The ranges below are 2026 estimates for custom development by an experienced Quebec agency, hosting excluded.
| Module | Scope | 2026 range (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| Employer portal | Posting offers, approval, filtered CV bank | 10,000 to 24,000 |
| Student portal | Applications, tracking, report upload | 9,000 to 22,000 |
| Online agreements | Auto-generation, e-signature workflow | 12,000 to 30,000 |
| Supervisor evaluations | Grids per program, grades pushed to the SIS | 8,000 to 19,000 |
| Employment statistics | Hiring rate, starting salaries, accreditation exports (AACSB, EQUIS) | 9,000 to 23,000 |
| Integrations | Student information system, SSO, notifications | 7,000 to 19,000 |
| Scoping, testing, training | Workshops, QA, documentation | 5,000 to 13,000 |
| Total | 60,000 to 150,000 |
For e-signature, a simple electronic signature with timestamp and audit trail is generally enough for internship agreements in Quebec. Personal data must comply with Quebec's Law 25: a privacy impact assessment is expected for a new system handling student data, and hosting in Canada simplifies the analysis.
A 3 to 4 month plan
Month 1: scoping with academic leadership, the internship office and two partner employers, mapping agreement workflows per program. Month 2: employer and student portals, first tests with a pilot cohort. Month 3: agreements, evaluations and statistics. Month 4: acceptance testing, migration of the last two years of data, training. The best launch window is before the winter recruiting season, when most summer internships are posted between October and January.
Mini case study
Isabelle, director of corporate relations at a private business school in Montreal (illustrative example), oversees 900 internships a year with three staff. She selects a platform at 105,000 CAD, plus 10,000 CAD a year for hosting and maintenance.
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Calculation: 3,000 hours saved valued at 38 CAD an hour, or 114,000 CAD a year. Direct payback comes in about 1 year. The decisive argument is elsewhere: a published, verifiable 6-month employment rate, used in recruiting campaigns where each new student brings 20,000 to 35,000 CAD of tuition a year.
FAQ
How much does an internship management platform cost in Montreal in 2026?
Expect 60,000 to 150,000 CAD for a complete custom solution, depending on the number of programs and integrations. A version limited to postings and agreements starts around 35,000 CAD.
Is an off-the-shelf career services SaaS cheaper?
Career services SaaS products often charge 10,000 to 35,000 CAD a year. They fit standard workflows, but rarely bilingual agreements and program-specific rules.
Are e-signed internship agreements valid?
Yes, for internship agreements a simple e-signature with timestamp and audit trail is generally sufficient in Quebec. Advanced signatures remain available for employers who require them.
How long does it take to launch?
Between 3 and 4 months, including about 4 weeks of scoping. Starting in June lets you be ready for the autumn recruiting season.
Can graduate outcomes be tracked?
Yes, the platform sends a survey at 6 and 12 months and computes employment rates per program. A response rate of 50 to 70 % is a realistic estimate with two reminders.
Let's scope your project. Share your enrolment, programs and agreement workflows, and we will return a scope, an indicative budget in CAD and a plan aligned with your recruiting season. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
