Waterloo’s Powering Change program

Students must meet all the requirements below in order to be eligible for Powering Change iWIL experiences/awards:

• You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who identifies with one of the groups identified by GSO below:
  • Low-income students (GSO’s definition of low-income students includes those who report being in receipt of Canada Student Grants, or similar non-repayable student financial assistance offered by provinces and territories, or, in the absence of receiving non-repayable student financial assistance, can provide information to demonstrate that they require financial support to study or work abroad).
  • Indigenous students (GSO’s definition of Indigenous students includes those who report being an Indigenous person, that is, First Nations, Métis, or Inuk [Inuit]).
    • Please note: If you identify as Indigenous and are chosen for the job, you will be asked to provide documentation that confirms your Indigenous identity.
  • Students with disabilities (GSO’s definition of students with disabilities includes those who report having difficulty or impairment due to a long-term condition or health problem and/or experiences a limitation in their daily activities).
     
• You must also commit to completing the following mandatory activities if you are chosen for the experience (learn more below):
  • Complete GSO's mandatory pre-departure survey.
  • Complete GSO's mandatory post-experience survey.
  • Complete all travel-related risk activities required by Waterloo International or Co-operative Education (if you're pursuing the opportunity for co-op credit).
  • Meet standard co-op requirements (if you're pursuing the opportunity for co-op credit).
  • Complete the Cultural Intelligence CQ pre- and post-experience assessments.
  • Complete a UN Sustainable Development Goal activity administered by Co-operative Education.
  • Give consent to share your personal information with the GSO team on the pre-departure forms/post experience reports.

Powering Change iWIL experiences are available to both co-op and regular students through the following campus partners:

• Co-operative Education
• EDGE Program – World Association for Co-op Education (WACE)
• St. Jerome’s University (SJU)
• Faculty of Environment’s International Development program
• Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE)
• St. Paul’s University (SPU; various programs such as SPU’s Indigenous Entrepreneurship Program, Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre, Waterloo Student Refugee Program).  

To apply for non-co-op Powering Change iWIL experiences, please reach out to the partners above. To apply for a Powering Change iWIL experience that counts for co-op credit, follow the steps below.

To apply for Powering Change iWIL experiences for co-op credit:

1. Detemine whether you are eligible for these jobs/awards.
   • Please ensure you can meet all eligibility requirements before applying or you will not be eligible for the award. 
      
2. Search for Powering Change iWIL experiences on WaterlooWorks job boards:
   • Login to WaterlooWorks
   • Select "Hire Waterloo Co-op" or "Hire Waterloo > Other Jobs" 
   • Use the "Advanced Search" feature to search for the keyword "Powering Change" 
      
3. Answer pre-screening questions to confirm you meet all eligibility requirements. 
   • Please note: these pre-screening questions have been intentionally generalized to avoid collecting personal information from students. The answers to these generalized questions will be shared with the employer as part of your application package to determine your eligibility.
   • If you would prefer not to provide this information, there is a “prefer not to answer” option for each pre-screening question – but please be advised that selecting this option will preclude you from being eligible for the job.
      
4. Employers will interview eligible candidates and make their selections.
   • Jobs posted on the "Hire Waterloo Co-op" job board will follow the rank/match process. 
   • Jobs posted on the "Hire Waterloo > Other jobs" job board will follow the employer's chosen selection process. 
5. If you are a successful candidate in this job/experience, you must also complete the following mandatory activities to be eligible for the award (learn more below):
   • Complete GSO's mandatory pre-departure survey.
   • Complete GSO's mandatory post-experience survey.
   • Complete all travel-related risk activities required by Waterloo International or Co-operative Education (if you're pursuing the opportunity for co-op credit).
   • Meet standard co-op requirements (if you're pursuing the opportunity for co-op credit).
   • Complete the Cultural Intelligence CQ pre- and post-experience assessments.
   • Complete a UN Sustainable Development Goal activity administered by Co-operative Education.

If you’ve been hired or admitted into an available Powering Change opportunity, you must complete the steps below in order to receive the award as compensation:

1. Complete GSO’s mandatory pre-departure survey (you'll be sent a link).
   • This survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers, and your responses will have no impact on your GSO funding.
   • The results from this survey will be used to monitor, evaluate, and improve the program.
   • The information that you provide will be kept confidential and will not be shared outside of the GSO program. You may answer “prefer not to say” to any question.
   • The pre-departure survey will ask you to answer questions about the following:
     • Demographic information (e.g., your program details, your first language, the gender you identify with, whether you identify as an Indigenous person and whether you identify as a student with a disability).
     • Financial situation (e.g., whether you've been approved for financial assistance for your current program of study).
     • Your outbound mobility experience (e.g., whether you’ll be working virtually or in-person, how long the experience is, what influenced your choices).
     • Your outbound mobility supports (e.g., support you received, how helpful it was).
     • Your pre-departure experience (e.g., what you enjoyed, what could be improved).
     • Your technical and soft skills prior to your iWIL experience.
     • How you feel about your employability prior to your iWIL experience.
2. Complete GSO’s mandatory post-experience survey (you'll be sent a link).
   • This survey is not yet available but we will update this page when we learn more. 
3. Complete travel-related risk activities required by the campus units below:
   • Co-operative Education's "Go Abroad" activities (if you're in co-op).
   • Waterloo International's "Safety Abroad" activities (if you're not in co-op).
4. Meet standard co-op requirements (if you're pursuing the opportunity for co-op credit).
5. Complete the Cultural Intelligence CQ pre- and post-experience assessments.
6. Complete a UN Sustainable Development Goal activity administered by Co-operative Education.

Depending on whether the job is in-person or virtual, your award will be disbursed directly into your student Quest account as per the following timing:

Please note: As with other awards, if you have fees owing on your Quest account, the award will go towards those fees.