Our history

tatham centre building

Co-operative and Experiential Education timeline

  1. 1957
    1. 1961 overhead shot of campus
      University of Waterloo opens

      Co-operative education was a new concept and guiding value in the founding and opening of the University. Initially only for engineering students and a cohort of 74 students. 

  2. 1962
    1. Black and white photo of two students sitting at a desk with an old computer at Waterloo.
      Establishment of the first co-op program outside the faculty of Engineering

      The co-op program expands to the Department of Physics

  3. 1975
    1. Black and white photo of a man and woman shaking hands infront of an Arts sign
      Arts co-op program begins

      The first Arts co-op stream begins for Economics students, demonstrating the value of co-operative education in all fields.

  4. 2002
    1. wxl logo
      Founding of the Work-Learn Institute (formerly WatCACE)

      Originally called the Waterloo Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education (WatCACE), the institute leverages data from Waterloo from the co-op program to determine trends and research possibilities. In 2020, WatCACE was renamed to the Work-Learn Institute (WxL).
  5. 2003
    1. tatham centre building
      Tatham Centre opens

      The three-level building was named in recognition of the generous support of William Tatham, a former Waterloo co-op student whose first company sold for $1.76 billion. It is the largest building dedicated to supporting co-operative education and career action at a Canadian university.

  6. 2006
    1. pharmacy building in Kitchener
      Founding of Canada's only Pharmacy co-op program

      Canada’s only Pharmacy co-op program and the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Campus opens in downtown Kitchener in 2006.
  7. 2017
    1. edge logo
      Launch of EDGE

      EDGE, an experiential education certification program for undergraduate students in non-co-op programs launches in 2017. Students who complete EDGE develop their professional skills, explore career options and learn how to market themselves to employers.

  8. 2019
    1. Name Change: Co-operative and Experiential Education

      Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) department was formed in 2019 bringing together several units including Co-operative Education, WxL, WATPD (now the Centre for WIL) and EDGE.

  9. 2021
    1. WE Accelerate launches

      CEE launches its new work-integrated learning program, Waterloo Experience (WE) Accelerate. The program aims to help co-op students seeking their first work term during the COVID-19 pandemic.