Co-op earnings | Co-operative Education

According to our co-op roles and responsibilities, you must receive some form of compensation for your co-op work terms in order to receive credit. This compensation varies widely depending on your employer, your program of study, your work term level or your overall work experience.

We record and publish average earnings information annually in the charts below for students and employers to use as a reference. Please note that employers are not required to follow these rates of pay, but can consult them when determining your salary.

Average earnings for Canadian undergraduate work terms in 2023

All Canadian work term data reported in Canadian dollars (hourly).

Faculty or program	Work term 1	Work term 2	Work term 3	Work term 4	Work term 5	Work term 6
Faculty of Arts (All Arts programs including Accounting & Financial Management)	$20.85 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $30.00}	$22.09 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $33.33}	$23.51 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $40.00}	$23.92 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $42.00}	$23.46 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $35.00}	N/A
Faculty of Engineering (All ENG programs including Software Engineering but excluding Architecture)	$20.54 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $30.00}	$22.57 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $36.92}	$24.65 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $40.00}	$26.52 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $46.00}	$29.04 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $50.00}	$30.72 ^(average) _{Low: $16.50} ^{High: $55.00}
Faculty of Engineering - Architecture	$20.66 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $26.00}	$23.76 ^(average) _{Low: $20.00} ^{High: $28.00}	$22.67 ^(average) _{Low: $16.95} ^{High: $26.85}	$23.77 ^(average) _{Low: $20.00} ^{High: $27.50}	$24.03 ^(average) _{Low: $20.00} ^{High: $37.50}	$24.28 ^(average) _{Low: $18.00} ^{High: $28.00}
Faculty of Environment	$19.63 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $27.51}	$21.12 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $30.00}	$22.06 ^(average) _{Low: $16.35} ^{High: $36.52}	$23.28 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $37.50}	$23.99 ^(average) _{Low: $16.25} ^{High: $37.50}	N/A
Faculty of Health	$18.17 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $25.00}	$18.59 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $25.52}	$19.41 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $28.01}	$19.42 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $28.00}	$20.04 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $30.00}	N/A
Faculty of Mathematics (All Math programs including Computer Science and Computing & Financial Management but excluding Actuarial Science)	$21.20 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $31.45}	$25.06 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $46.00}	$27.43 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $48.00}	$29.12 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $50.00}	$31.88 ^(average) _{Low: $16.75} ^{High: $55.00}	$33.64 ^(average) _{Low: $16.50} ^{High: $60.75}
Faculty of Mathematics - Actuarial Science	$24.99 ^(average) _{Low: $19.48} ^{High: $30.52}	$25.68 ^(average) _{Low: $18.00} ^{High: $41.04}	$28.13 ^(average) _{Low: $20.00} ^{High: $35.00}	$30.82 ^(average) _{Low: $19.00} ^{High: $40.86}	$31.08 ^(average) _{Low: $17.10} ^{High: $38.08}	$33.21 ^(average) _{Low: $23.25} ^{High: $42.00}
Faculty of Science (All Science programs excluding Pharmacy)	$19.14 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $29.00}	$19.81 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $28.00}	$21.19 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $33.70}	$21.54 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $31.00}	$22.30 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $33.78}	N/A
Faculty of Science - Pharmacy	$19.72 ^(average) _{Low: $16.16} ^{High: $28.50}	$21.13 ^(average) _{Low: $17.00} ^{High: $32.00}	$20.87 ^(average) _{Low: $17.00} ^{High: $30.00}	N/A	N/A	N/A

Average earnings for Canadian graduate work terms 2023

All Canadian graduate work term data is self-reported by students in Canadian Dollars over the period of January-December 2023.

Faculty	Master's students
Arts (Master of Arts, Master of Public Service)	$22.57 ^(average) _{Low: $16.00} ^{High: $32.54}
Engineering (Master of Engineering, Master of Management Sciences)	$29.22 ^(average) _{Low: $16.75} ^{High: $45.00}
Engineering – Architecture (Master of Architecture)	$24.38 ^(average) _{Low: $18.00} ^{High: $30.00}
Mathematics (Master of Mathematics, Master of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence)	$30.75 ^(average) _{Low: $16.80} ^{High: $50.00}

Unpaid/underpaid work terms

In some situations, unpaid co-op jobs will be approved for work term credit, as long as the job conforms to the guidelines for unpaid/underpaid work terms.

Note: This data is provided for informational purposes only. Co-operative and Experiential Education at the University of Waterloo does not establish or recommend pay level for co-op students, and this information should only be used as a guideline to be reconciled with the known market conditions for the position. Please exercise diligence in applying this information to your specific situation.