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Did you know that UBC has the second largest co-op program in Canada, with our students completing over 7,700 work terms this past year alone? In fact, for over 40 years, UBC’s co-op programs have provided tens of thousands of our students with work integrated learning (WIL) opportunities with diverse community partners across Canada and around the world. Through co-op, students combine three-to-five full-time, paid co-op work terms related to their studies and career goals with their university degrees, a program formally recognized on their transcripts and degree parchments.
Co-op graduates, such as one of the first UBC-Vancouver Arts Co-op students, Eric Tung, often credit their co-op experience as being transformational: “I’m always encouraging students to take co-op,” says Tung. “I believe it made a significant difference in the trajectory of my career and the opportunities I subsequently got.”
Pioneered at the University of Cincinnati’s Engineering School in 1906, co-operative education has become a highly regarded pedagogical approach now used widely across post-secondary institutions in Canada and around the world. Its impact comes from its design: students complete multiple work terms intentionally sequenced with their studies, often working in several different workplaces prior to graduation, graduation with classroom and professional learning. Students apply for co-op jobs, shared with them by their co-op programs, and are supported on each job search with customized pre-employment training and resources, dedicated co-op coordinators available for one-on-one job application reviews and practice interviews and to provide individual support. During each work term, students complete a series of reflective assignments to enhance their learning experience that their co-op program evaluates, and complete an evaluation of the experience at the end of each four-month term. A site visit with a co-op staff member at the mid-point of each four-month term is another hallmark of the co-op model.
UBC’s co-op students have excelled across all employment sectors in Canada, and in 36 different countries, including Australia, Cambodia, France, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Thailand. Multiple UBC students have received provincial and national recognition for their extraordinary contributions on their co-op terms, and graduates regularly cite their co-op experiences as among the most impactful parts of their UBC education.
Many UBC units hire our co-op students for four or eight-month work terms starting each September, January and May, joining employers from all sectors of the economy in accessing our top students and contributing to their education.
Additional resources
Learn more about UBC’s co-op programs, and see how to post a job with us.
UBC Sauder’s Co-op Student Shines as Canada’s University Co-op Student of the Year for 2025.
Learn more about the history of UBC-Vancouver’s Arts Co-op Program and about Eric Tung’s story.
ACE WIL BC/Yukon, the provincial professional association in the field, offers a variety of publicly available Resource Packs to support employers and WIL practitioners including a range of resources to support Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in workplace learning. Dedicated resources include Indigenous WIL, Supporting Students with Disabilities, and supporting WIL in Rural Regions.
For scholarship about Work Integrated Learning, including co-operative education, visit the International Journal of Work Integrated Learning.
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