“Helping us on our journey to becoming a more sustainable company, the BCIT Students in the Sustainable Business Consulting Project built a business case for transitioning to Electric Vehicles, with an in-depth analysis of all the associated costs, benefits, and how best to proceed to ensure the highest likelihood of a successful transition. We are very grateful for their efforts and the program as a whole, and will be signing up to do this again!”
– Sydney Wanchulak, Impact + Sustainability Manager, NorLand Limited
A BCIT Sustainable Business Consulting Project connects your organization with a team of Sustainable Business Leadership students to take on a real-world environmental, social, or financial sustainability challenge over six months. Working in teams of 2-3 students and guided by a faculty advisor, students refine the project scope, conduct primary and secondary research, and develop practical recommendations. Clients receive a written report, any project-specific deliverables, and a professional presentation of the findings. Past clients span private, public, and non-profit organizations across a range of sectors, including organizations such as IKEA Canada, Provincial Health Services Authority, and National Zero Waste Council.
Submit your project. Projects submitted before November 15 will be considered for our January start.
Benefits for Project Clients
- Practical recommendations: A research-backed report and presentation tailored to a sustainability challenge your organization is facing.
- Capacity to explore new priorities: Investigate an idea or issue your team hasn’t had time to tackle, such as a new framework, market, or transition plan.
- Current frameworks and methods: Students apply tools like GHG accounting, materiality assessment, B Corp framework, and others.
- Faculty support: Each team is guided by a faculty advisor with industry experience, helping students navigate unexpected obstacles.
- Talent connections: Spend six months working alongside students who are entering sustainability roles, many of them already experienced professionals.
| PROJECT TIMETABLE | |
|---|---|
| Sept – Nov | Project proposals submitted to BCIT (Deadline: November 15) |
| December | Faculty and students review and select projects |
| Jan – Mar | Students, Faculty Advisor, and client agree to project details and project begins |
| Mar – Jun | Students complete research, analyze data, write their final report, and prepare their presentation |
| June | Students deliver oral presentation and written report to sponsor |
Project Requirements and Client Commitments
Sustainable Business Consulting Projects propose equitable and sustainable solutions to business challenges and include a combination of the following key elements to align with course learning objectives (past project examples):
- Primary research: potentially including stakeholder surveys, key informant or expert interviews, focus groups.
- Secondary research: potentially including literature review, regulation or policy review, landscape scan, gap analysis.
- Technical analysis: drawing on established methodologies such as a pre-feasibility or SWOT analysis and/or sustainability frameworks like B-Corp, Science-Based Targets, and GRI Standards.
- Communication: drawing on a range of tools to effectively share the findings with the client and project stakeholders.
Should this project be selected, the client commits to being available at least twice a month during the six-month project term (January to June) to work with the students and provide information, feedback, and guidance.
At the end of the project, the client has the option to contribute to the BCIT Foundation to support our students. One hundred percent of these funds go directly to BCIT Sustainable Business Leadership students (e.g. as awards or support for professional development). The typical voluntary contribution is $750, though other amounts are welcomed. Note that the ability to donate does not influence project selection; projects are selected based on how well they match our students’ skillsets and project requirements.
Project submission
To get started, please fill out the Sustainable Business Consulting Project [PDF] form and email it to sbl@bcit.ca. If you have any questions about the program or about submitting your form, please contact us at sbl@bcit.ca.
Contact information
If you have any additional questions about the BCIT Sustainable Business Consulting Project or the program as a whole, please contact:
Alan Shapiro
Sustainable Business Consulting Project Coordinator
“Working with the BCIT students was a great experience. They spearheaded an innovative market research on low embodied emissions building materials with extraordinary precision, creativity, and professionalism, which was no small task given the complexity of the topic.”
– Elisabeth Baudinaud, Senior Community Energy Manager, Community Energy Association
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