Engineering Coop/Work Experience Option

Full time graduate students in the Faculty of Engineering can enroll in a paid Coop or in a Work Experience (non-Coop) option while in their graduate programmes (Master of Engineering, Master of Applied Science, Master of Science and Doctoral degrees). Students enrolled in the Coop version will be required to complete 12 months (Doctoral) or 8 months (Master’s) of a paid work experience at an industrial, government or NGO employer and must return to their program for at least one term prior to graduation. The 8- or 12-months Coop experience may be acquired through a combination of 4-months scheduled breaks, sequential or not sequential. The Work Experience offers flexibility in regards to the duration of the work term and does not require the student to return for one term prior to graduation, though the cumulative work term duration may still not exceed 12 months (Doctoral) or 8 months (Master’s). The time that the student is off-campus on an approved coop or work experience will not be counted towards their time-to-degree completion though their term count will continue. Students may not generally switch from the Coop option to the Work Experience option once they have begun their first work term placement, but under special circumstances may be allowed with the permission of the Coop manager. Participating in either option will increase the length of the time to degree completion by up to one year and may only be done with the permission of the student’s supervisor.

Students must remain enrolled as full-time students while off-campus at the work placement, enrolled in a zero-credit placeholder course, but will be ineligible to collect any scholarship or stipend from their department/supervisor/university for its duration. No tuition will be collected for the term(s) while on an approved placement but the student will be responsible for normal supplementary fees as well as a ‘career training fee’, which will normally occur in the terms before a placement.