Co-op Work Term Requirements

Co-op Work Term Requirements

To maintain our high standards for quality work term experiences, we require that co-op roles meet a specific set of requirements in terms of duration, pay, and academic alignment to receive credit for a work term.

· Minimum Criteria for Co-op Work Terms

· Searching for co-op positions outside of Co-op Job Boards

· International work terms

If you’re independently searching for a work term that doesn’t meet one or more aspects of the regular work term criteria below, please speak to your Work Term Engagement Coordinator. We review each job opportunity on a case-by-case basis, so we may be able to discuss options depending on your situation and rationale.

Minimum Criteria for Co-op Work Terms

Criteria

 

Regular co-op work term requirements

Position

  • Single employer/position 
  • Job must be related to your co-op academic program or provide you with development of transferrable skills 

Work Term Duration

  • Job must be 12-16 weeks (minimum of 420 hours)

Number of Hours

  • Job must be full-time (35-40 hours/week)

Pay

  • Job must be paid at least minimum wage (or usual local minimum practice) for where the organization is located, OR
  • If you have an opportunity in Canada that is offering pay that is below minimum wage, please discuss this with your Work Term Engagement Coordinator.

Location

  • Positions can be in-person, hybrid or remote within Toronto, across Canada, or internationally
  • International students: if you're currently in your home country and want to complete your work term there, please contact your Work Term Engagement Coordinator to discuss your options.
  • If you are interested in an international work term please refer to (below): International Work Terms & University of Toronto Travel Policy.

International Students

If you're an international visa student, any work completed for a co-op credit in Canada must be done on a co-op work permit.

Supervisor

You must not be supervised by a family member or another student. You can work for a family business, as long as your supervisor is not a family member.

Performance Evaluations

Your supervisor must participate in an in-person or online/phone midterm site visit and submit Work Term Performance Evaluations at the mid-point and end of your work term.

Minimum of Required Work Terms to Graduate

In order to graduate, undergraduate co-op students must complete a minimum of 2 or 3 work terms (depending on your academic program’s study/work sequence).

With the work term requirements, the following options are possible:

Work Term Duration

Will be counted as:

4 months 1 work term
8 months 2 work terms
12 months 3 work terms
 

Searching for Co-op Positions Outside of CSM

While your primary source of co-op positions is the Co-op job boards, you may choose to look at other sources for potential co-op opportunities.

From time to time, opportunities arise that fall outside of our traditional job seeking cycles - these can be found in the Future Work Term area of the co-op job board.

Here’s a summary of other sources that you can access for work term postings.

Platform Type of Role Audience Additional steps to have a role count as a work term
Co-op Job Boards - CSM, ECC Portal or Future Work Term Co-op Approved roles All current seeking students None! These roles are all pre-approved by our Business Development Team
Other Job Boards    
Any roles that you find on a platform/job board other than CSM during your seeking semester is treated as an external job search.
 
Should you secure any roles through a job board other than CSM, and want to have this count as a co-op work term submit a Request for Work Term Approval Form found on the Arts and Science Co-op Portal.

International Work Terms & University of Toronto Travel Policy The Government of Canada advises against all non-essential travel outside of Canada. Work terms outside of Canada have always been assessed based on the risk level published by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) travel advisories, in conjunction with any overall directives from our central University leadership. When the GAC risk level for a country is listed as high ("Avoid non-essential travel" or "Avoid all travel") prior to the start of a work term, the University will not approve a work term for co-op credit. This applies to all individuals, regardless of citizenship or intended destination. International students: if you’re currently in your home country and want to complete your work term there, please contact your Work Term Engagement Coordinator to discuss. More information on international work terms can be found on the Arts and Science Co-op portal.

Given U of T’s decision to suspend all University-related travel and GAC’s listing of all countries as high risk, we are required to follow that direction and can’t approve work terms outside of Canada for credit for the Summer 2020 or Fall 2020 terms.

Since we can’t confidently predict when this will change, we advise you to prioritize roles that can be completed from Canada. Work terms with employers based outside of Canada—including work terms you find on your own—can still be approved for co-op credit if employers can relocate you to their Canadian office or allow you to legally work remotely from within Canada.

Of course, you can still choose to work outside Canada, but you will not receive a co-op credit from the University since it goes against the University’s current policies.