All About Co-Op

Get ahead in your future by supplementing your university journey with co-op.

Interested in a field of study but not sure where to start? Consider co-op, where you can gain experience in your field, make connections, and earn money — all while studying!

What is co-op?

Short for co-operative education, co-op allows you to gain hands-on experience in a real workplace setting to build skills related to your program of study and make connections with people in your field.

Co-op is typically available at the high school, college, and university levels in Canada. In high school, co-op programs are typically unpaid placements designed for students to test out a potential career while college and university co-op programs are often paid. There are also other types of work-integrated learning such as internships that involve one or multiple work terms, however, they are not always paid like co-op is. Find out more about how co-op and internships differ.

How does co-op differ between universities?

There are 80 schools in Canada that offer co-op for their programs, according to Canadian Colleges and Universities. These co-op programs, while similar, differ in terms of their scope; how many employers there are for you to apply to; what services are available for support; how you apply for jobs; the number of work terms; and the length of each term. When you’re researching universities, these are key factors to consider! Not all co-op programs are created equally.

What are the benefits of co-op?

The main selling point of co-op is that you get real-life work experience before graduating. At many universities, you are limited to working in jobs related to your field. However, at Waterloo, you can work in fields unrelated to your program to fully explore your career options.

When you’re in co-op, you get to:

• gain relevant skills and experience in your field of study,
• earn money,
• build a great résumé, and
• build a valuable network of potential mentors who can support you in your new environment and let you know about future job opportunities.

Additionally, you gain valuable soft skills — which include communication, time management, resilience, and problem solving.

How does co-op work?

Depending on the university, you can be admitted directly into a co-op program once you’re out of high school (which is the case at Waterloo) or apply to be in co-op once you’re a student there.

The process in university differs from high school in that placements are not organized for you by your school. Instead, at most universities, you’ll apply to co-op jobs on your own and be selected by employers based on your résumé, grades, extracurriculars, and an interview.

Although securing a co-op job is a highly competitive process at Waterloo, you have access to top employers and get real-life experience competing against your peers for a job. As well, Waterloo has advisors and a career centre to help prepare you every step of the way, as well as a wide range of resources to ensure the success of your co-op journey.

So how do you know co-op is right for you? Co-op offers many wonderful benefits, but it also typically extends your time in university, which may not be optimal. For example, at Waterloo, it’ll take five years to finish an undergraduate degree with co-op instead of the typical four years. However, you’ll get to graduate with up to two years of paid, relevant work experience, which is extremely valuable in jumpstarting your career.