Co-op Fees

Every student in the Co-op Program has a dedicated Co-op Career Advisor to support them throughout their career journey. Your Co-op Career Advisor has industry knowledge relevant to your program of student, and can provide you with personalized guidance, resources, and support tailored to your unique career goals. 

In 2024, our Career Advisors conducted over 3,600 one-to-one advising and career coaching appointments, work term check-in, and facilitated sessions such as cover letter feedback sessions, interview clinics, technical interview workshops, and networking workshops. Your Co-op Career Advisor provides: 

• One-to-one job search support (i.e., resume and cover letter reviews, mock interview, job offer reviews and assistance evaluating options, etc.)
• Group workshops (i.e., networking workshops, technical interview workshops, etc.)
• Job search and work term related toolkits (e.g. Resume Toolkit, Cover Letter Toolkit, Interview Toolkit, Reference List Toolkit, Success in the Workplace Toolkit, etc.) that have been developed using industry and recruitment insights gained from our employer partner relationships
• Email reminders for upcoming deadlines for 'hot jobs', Co-op Program events, and relevant events taking place at UBC
• Work term check-in meetings with students on their first work term or students working with a new company to the Co-op Program to ensure you are making the most of your work experience and address any concerns you may have
• Ongoing support for all students on a work term, which includes providing advice, coaching, and resources for students facing challenges in the workplace
• Networking events with our employer partners to help you practice your networking skills, meet some of our top employers, and start to build your professional network
• Continuously updated workshops and resources, such as the Co-op Learning Resource Hub, enhanced based on feedback from students and insights from employers

The Co-op Program would not exist without the support of our employer partners. That's why we dedicate a significant amount of time to helping and assisting them. This includes: 

• Maintaining relationships with our employers and expanding opportunities with our current employers to maximize the number of co-p job opportunities for students
• Reminding employers of the best times of the year to recruit co-op students through monthly newsletters and targeted emails to those yet to post jobs for the current term
• Vetting all job postings to ensure they provide high quality learning opportunities for students
• Helping employers with the onboarding process to ensure their new student hires are integrated smoothly into their organization
• Providing employers with tips and best practices on how to support students in the workplace
• Strengthening employer partnerships through work term check-ins and gathering feedback on student preparedness for the workplace and experience with the co-op program
• Inviting employers to engage with co-op students outside the workplace through participation in the events such as our pre-employment training workshops and annual Co-op Networking Event
• Hosting employers on campus for networking events, career fairs, and industry workshops, featuring companies such as Tesla, Qualcomm, Intel, and other industry leaders 

The goal of the Co-op Program is to get as many students as possible into meaningful work experiences every term. In 2024, we posted 6,960 jobs and our students participated in 3,049 four-month work terms! To accomplish this goal, we are: 

• Ensuring all jobs posted on PD Portal are relevant work experiences for students and meet national co-op accreditation requirements
• Following up with employers who have posted jobs with us and encouraging them to shortlist students for interview
• Organizing and scheduling interviews for employers
• Extending offers of employment to students on behalf of employers
• Assisting students in navigating offers, including handling multiple offers, explaining non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, and addressing any issues such as non-compete clauses
• Reviewing offers of employment for jobs students have applied and interviewed for outside of PD Portal ensuring the opportunity is co-op eligible
• Creating work term records in PD Portal as jobs are secured by students 

The Co-op Program's Business Development Team works to increase the diversity and number of co-op employment opportunities for students. They do this by: 

• Promoting the Co-op Program and its talented students to prospective employers to fill their short-term recruitment needs and test drive future full-time employees
• Assisting employers with creating job descriptions that attract the right student candidates
• Encouraging employers to review our salary statistics to ensure they are offering a competitive wage to students
• Advising employers on available wage subsidy programs to help them hire co-op students
• Working with top companies and industries to ensure they have a positive and seamless experience with our program, so they continue to offer co-op opportunities for our students 

There is considerable administrative work required to run a program with over 3000 students and hundreds of employer partners. This includes: 

• Preparing and issuing letters for co-op work permit applications, proof of co-op enrollment, and required documentation for employer wage subsidies and other third-party requirements
• Registering students in their co-op work term courses
• Organizing and scheduling work term check-ins between first work term students, the student's workplace supervisor, and their Career Advisor
• Grading of all second work term assignments and third work term non-confidential technical work term assignments by a teaching assistant
• Entering co-op work term grades for students at the end of each four-month work term
• Processing requests for work term sequence changes and program withdrawals
• Confirming co-op student status each term with the relevant UBC departments, such as Student Housing, U-Pass, and Human Resources, as required
• Continually evaluating the effectiveness of the program for students, employers, and UBC, and implementing necessary changes to program policies and procedures
• Applying for initial accreditation and re-accreditation for all our co-op programs to our accreditation body, CEWIL, by submitting co-op program statistics to CEWIL

Our infrastructure costs pertain to some of the most visible and tangible parts of the program. They are: 

• Maintaining the co-op website to promote the program to prospective employers and students
• Licensing, maintenance, and technical support for PD Portal, our co-op information management system
• Ensuring all co-op staff have the technology (i.e., laptops, phones, videoconference equipment, etc.) and workstations needed to complete their work 

As co-op is an academic program, it is imperative that the Co-op Program maintains strong relationships with our academic partners in each engineering/architecture program as well as our partners across the UBC campus community. This ensures: 

• Co-op work term sequence schedules continue to work for each academic program of study
• Opportunities to coordinate and plan joint initiatives with our campus partners (e.g., UBC Career Centre) and to promote our programs
• International co-op students receive assistance from UBC's International Student Advising Office with the process of applying for or extending their co-op work permit and study permit
• Advocacy for co-op programming across campus through the UBC Co-op Council, ensuring a consistent and high-quality co-op student experience
• Participating in provincial and national work integrate learning professional bodies in advocating for governmental support of co-op programs and funding opportunities for employers 

University Central Costs are expenses we are required to pay to ensure the Co-op Program has access to shared campus resources and services. The University automatically deducts 15% of the Co-op Program fee to cover these costs and therefore is not part of the Co-op Program's operating budget. These costs encompass a variety of overhead expenses such as: 

• Building operations and maintenance
• Energy and water services
• Custodial services
• Internet, telephone, and email services
• UBC Information and learning management systems (e.g., Workday, Canvas)
• IT support
• Human resources
• Campus security