Fall Co-op, Advanced Analytics

Canadian Institute for Health Information; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading Canadian health data organization in Ottawa is seeking a co-op student to assist with microsimulation modeling focused on home care and long-term care systems. This role provides exposure to Canadian healthcare data and the opportunity to develop simulation tools for evidence-based decision-making. Ideal candidates are pursuing a relevant graduate degree and possess strong programming skills in Python or R.

Benefits

HOOPP Pension Plan

Retirement Planning Program

Generous vacation days

Work-life balance

Career Planning Program

Learning and Professional Development Program

Flexible benefits program

Qualifications

• Working towards a graduate degree with a co-op requirement.
• Strong programming skills in Python or R.
• Ability to implement and evaluate models empirically.

Responsibilities

• Assist with the design and maintenance of microsimulation models.
• Use simulation frameworks for analysis.
• Incorporate demographic and health data for modeling.

Skills

Programming in Python

Programming in R

Collaborative work

Data analysis

Microsoft Office proficiency

Fluency in English

Education

Graduate degree in Statistics, Epidemiology, Public Health, Health Economics, Applied Mathematics, Data Science

Tools

SimPy

mesa

OpenM++

SimPaths

SimYouLate

Job description

At CIHI, we recognize what matters to our employees.

Some of the benefits of working at CIHI include:

• HOOPP Pension Plan (Defined Benefits Pension)
• Retirement Planning Program
• Generous vacation days for permanent and long-term contracts
• Work-life balance
• Career Planning Program
• Learning and Professional Development Program
• Flexible benefits program from your first day on the job for permanent and long-term contracts

Why is this role important?

In this role, you will help CIHI explore microsimulation modeling to support the development, calibration, and validation of models focused on home care or long-term care (LTC) systems. As a co-op student, you will be involved in activities that support projects within the Advanced Analytics branch, contributing to CIHI’s mandate: Better data, better decisions, healthier Canadians. This opportunity will expose you to Canadian healthcare data and microsimulation model development for evidence-based decision-making, including the development of robust simulation tools that project home care or LTC needs, costs, resource allocation, and policy impacts over time.

What you'll do

1. Gain exposure to and assist with the design, building, and maintenance of individual-level microsimulation models.
2. Use open-source simulation frameworks (e.g., SimPy, mesa, simpyLC in Python; OpenM++, SimPaths, SimYouLate in R) to support discrete-event, agent-based, or hybrid simulations.
3. Assist with incorporating demographic, health status, equity stratifiers, and care pathway data to model life-course transitions.
4. Gain exposure to model validation, calibration, and sensitivity analysis techniques to ensure internal validity and policy relevance.
5. Support scenario analyses to evaluate the impact of alternative policies, programs, or resource allocation strategies.
6. Maintain documentation and version control of model architecture, parameters, and code.

What you'll bring to the table

• Working towards a graduate degree in Statistics, Epidemiology, Public Health, Health Economics, Applied Mathematics, Data Science, or related field, with a co-op requirement to complete the degree.
• Strong programming skills in Python or R.
• Ability to implement, iterate, and evaluate models empirically.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively on interdisciplinary projects.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office.
• Fluency in English is required; bilingualism in both official languages is an asset.