Youth in Canada face the highest unemployment rate this country has seen since the mid-1990s, meaning that securing a job as a new graduate is an increasingly competitive task. Having a high grade per average alone will not do, especially not in the post-pandemic era.
As undergraduates at UBC Okanagan scramble for work opportunities that might elevate their resumes, many apply to the university’s optional Co-operative Education Programs (Co-op), which coaches students to acquire a temporary position at a local or international company and enables them to pursue a year of full-time paid work before completing their Bachelor’s degree.
There are two types of Co-op programs: the UBC Applied Science Co-op Program for Engineering students and the Interdisciplinary Co-op Education Program for Arts, Fine Arts, Health and Exercise Sciences, Management, Media Studies, Science and Sustainability students.
Interestingly, first-hand opinions about the program’s mandatory pre-employment training have been generally negative. Students’ criticisms revolve around the program’s unreasonable fees and lack of personalized guidance.
In order to have a better understanding of how Co-op works at UBCO, I gathered various students’ perspectives on whether the program is really worth the financial and time commitment, as well as alternative paths to career readiness as an undergraduate student.
You can think of Co-op as something like a minor or additional major in the sense that you have to apply and get accepted into the program, and that it offers an added credential on your degree. Upon graduation, the Co-op designation on your Bachelor’s degree can serve as an easy communicator to potential employers that you have a certain level of experience in the workplace.
Note, however, that getting accepted into the program does not guarantee you that Co-op designation — it remains your responsibility to find and secure a job at a company for the Co-op work term. The university’s role is to hold your hand through that often overwhelming process.
To elaborate, the Co-op pre-employment training, or Career Readiness Curriculum (CRC), takes place between October and December each year and consists of both online modules and live workshops on topics like resume and cover letter development, interview preparation, and professional communication.
Doing pre-employment training alongside school is not necessarily easy. Tanmehar Singh, who just completed his first four weeks of the CRC, states that “the training and the workshops have been fantastic up until now, but because they released the workshops and materials during midterm season, I was not able to give it my full attention.”
While Singh’s feelings about the training are otherwise positive, some students do not feel as satisfied with its lack of specialization.
On one hand, the UBC Applied Science Co-op Program is designed for Engineering students at both the Okanagan and Vancouver campuses, and for Architecture students at the Vancouver campus. It provides industry-specific training and has a designated Co-op advisor for those respective disciplines. As for the Interdisciplinary Co-op Program, where the rest of the students fall, the resources provided are hardly as specific.
Thiên-Nhi Vu, a fourth-year-standing Data Science major at UBCO, was formerly enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Co-op Program but eventually opted out for several reasons, one being that the coaching she received was not very substantial:
“I felt that the feedback from workshops was quite generic, especially when it came to tech, presenting a portfolio for your work, and projects in Computer Science and Data Science.”
Another student, Q, expresses similar frustrations with the lack of personalized guidance, which makes her wonder if the program “prioritises money over student support.” She states that the cost “feels pretty steep since I don’t expect to be making a lot during the Co-op job.”
The cost is two-fold: administration and workshop fees; and the Co-op course fee. The former is a one-time non-refundable fee of $282.57 upon acceptance into the program. The latter, which is charged only after you secure a job, ranges between $855 to $871 per Co-op work term, depending on the type of Co-op program you are enrolled in. More information on fees and application can be found in the Co-op Fees page for Engineering students and the Apply to Co-op page for those interested in the Interdisciplinary Co-op Program.
Without a doubt, these costs are an additional monetary commitment alongside an already expensive university tuition. Considering this financial burden and the lacking quality of training, many students believe that the cost of participating in Co-op is too high.
That is especially true for international students, yet they are also the ones who, in many cases, benefit the most from this experience. The Co-op Program Office partners with the Global Engagement Office to assist international students in applying for a Co-op work permit, which is needed in order to work full-time in Canada without citizenship.
As an international student who hopes to pursue a career in Canada, Q is willing to pay the fees mainly “for the work prospect after graduation and for immigration purposes.”
Indeed, though a Co-op placement does not directly help with immigration, it could increase an international student’s chances of getting hired in Canada. This would ease the process of securing a work permit post-graduation and of sustaining oneself financially in a country far away from family.
The above reasons are why the Co-op program could especially benefit international students. As for someone like Thiên-Nhi Vu, who already has Canadian citizenship, the cons outweighed the pros. The program did not necessarily ease her job search process.
She concluded that between May and August, 2025, she applied for 160 jobs and got just five interviews. At that point, the administration and workshop fees, and the prospective eight-hundred dollars per work term, did not feel worth it.
At the same time, Vu believed that it was important to apply her skills and knowledge from school to the workplace. After opting out of the Co-op program, she continued to look for similar opportunities independently.
Two months ago, she secured a year-long Data Science Time Series internship at Themis Intelligence, an advanced data intelligence and AI-driven analytics company in Brampton, Ontario. This internship, which is set to complete in mid-August, 2026, will not be considered a Co-op placement by UBCO. In other words, Vu is currently taking a gap year or academic leave, which is possible for students in good academic standing.
Even though Vu’s graduation certificate will not say “Co-op,” her current placement has, all the same, been meaningful in terms of work-integrated learning. As a data science intern, she is assigned daily tasks like coding, evaluating error metrics, and doing readings to familiarize herself with industry techniques.
Each week, in addition to team meetings, she also meets with her supervisor to discuss her accomplishments, challenges, and the highlights of her learning and development. The hands-on tasks, evaluation by professionals, and workplace interaction make up a valuable environment to learn about industry standards that are not taught in the classroom.
What is more, working in Brampton has broadened Vu’s perspective on company culture and social norms in different parts of Canada:
“Knowing who you’re working with is really important. I’ve talked to people working at other companies around the area, and each company’s boss and work style differs a little. For example, some bosses are more friendly and others are more reserved; some companies have stricter HR (human resources) than others.
Generally, I’ve observed that people in Ontario seem more work-oriented than people in BC, who are more relaxed; punctuality is more strictly adhered to here [in Ontario], such as clocking-in and clocking-out times.”
In the span of just two months, her thoughts on professionalism and work-life balance have evolved. She emphasises those ideas are up for interpretation and depends on a person’s positionality:
“In the first month, I looked around me at the employees who were older and more experienced, and saw that no one was taking breaks. I felt that I shouldn’t be taking breaks either, like I needed to stay at my desk and stay focused. I wasn’t used to sitting in front of a desk for long hours, yet I didn’t want to distract other people, especially in the beginning when I didn’t know anyone.”
Now that Vu has gotten to know some of her colleagues, she has learned to give herself grace, considering the fact that the long-term employees are much more used to such lengthy work hours than she is.
“I was talking to an older co-worker and they said, ‘Yeah, it’s okay to take breaks, and if you ever want, just come to my desk and we can go outside, take a ten minute walk, and talk.’ I understood over time that I’m here to learn and they don’t expect me to be perfect. They’re here to help and teach me the industry approach to this discipline that I’ve been studying.”
In contrast to university, which Vu describes as “a bubble, where you’re surrounded by people your age,” the workplace is not as conducive to friendship. Most employees are older than Vu, or commuters from around the Greater Toronto Area, meaning that hanging out after work is not necessarily an option.
Therefore, to maintain a good work-life balance, she sought out alternative avenues to meet people and continue her existing hobbies:
“I like to stay active and have some sort of creative outlet. At UBCO, that was running, tennis, skiing, and a cappella. Here, I learned to adapt my hobbies into a new environment. I joined a run club and also tried a new sport, ultimate frisbee. There is no a cappella group here, but I’ve turned my creative outlet backstage, where I’m helping out as a crew member for a musical theatre production.”
Those are just some ways in which Vu has grown personally and professionally during her internship so far. Other riveting topics that came up during our interview were coping with loneliness in a foreign city and experiencing imposter syndrome as a student intern. In essence, work opportunities like this help a student expand their professional skillset as well as mindset.
Even outside of the Co-op program, Vu successfully acquired an internship to enhance her career readiness. She did so by applying for jobs in her own time, at her own pace, and interning with a year of academic leave. Considering this, are UBCO’s Co-op programs worth the time and money?
“The high cost would have been more justified,” Vu says, “if Computer, Math, Physics, and Statistics (CMPS) students received specialized training, similar to what is offered in the Applied Science Co-op Program.” Having a designated program would be especially helpful to disciplines like CMPS that prioritise industry skills.
Co-op might also be worth it for those who appreciate being kept accountable by someone external during their job search process, international students who need help acquiring work permits, and those who have no trouble paying the fees.
All things considered, Co-op or not, the key to career readiness is stepping out of university’s “bubble,” as Vu has put it, and actively seeking opportunities to learn in different environments, including the workplace.
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