Advance Ontario Key Terms | Riipen Help Center

TERM	DEFINITION
Students/ Learners	Individuals seeking projects through Advance Ontario. All Advance Ontario students are registered with an eligible post-secondary institution in Ontario. However, you may see them referred to as Learners on Riipen.
Company	The organisation hosting internship projects.
Employer	A representative of the company. Employers are responsible for posting, managing projects, and mentoring students.
Funding Cycle	Funding for Advance Ontario students from the Government of Ontario. The current funding cycle runs from January 2025 - June 2025. Projects are limited to one per student during a single funding cycle. Each cohort closes once all applicant spots are filled.
Cohort	The term in which projects must take place. Typically there are two cohorts (January and April) within a funding cycle. Cohorts each have their own round of applications and set deadlines.
Experience	A private Advance Ontario marketplace, accessible only to eligible students and employers. It centrally manages all aspects of the process, including project matching and student applications.
Team	A team is created when an employer accepts a student's application to work on a project. Each team comprises one student, and all project management occurs on the team page.
Pending Applications	Students may have up to three pending applications at a time. If accepted, the student is enrolled in that project. If denied, they can apply to another project.
Accepted Application	Once a student's application to a project has been accepted, that indicates that the student is now set to complete that project. All other pending applications will be cancelled. Students cannot switch their project once accepted.
Project	A demonstration of the employer's objectives and scope of work for the internship.
Matched project	A project available in the Advance Ontario’s private marketplace. Projects must request to match and be approved by the Advance Ontario team before the match is complete. Only matched projects are visible to students and open for applications.
Open/closed projects	Projects that are open or closed to student applications. Students can only apply to open projects.
Project Start Date	The date that the project must begin in order to participate in the cohort. To begin a project, students must click “start project” on the platform. Please see this help article for more information.
Project End Date	The date that the project must end in order to be considered complete and students to be compensated for their work in the program. Please see this help article for more information.