Our strength - community | Computing and Financial Management

CFM is an intimate and close-knit program, home to a community of approximately 250 bright and talented students. Throughout their studies, they take many core courses together, fostering familiarity and meaningful connection. What makes CFM special is how these relationships are strengthened overtime — through engaging social events, career development workshops, and CFM Connect, our mentorship program.

Like our students, our graduates are also community-minded, generously sharing their time to connect with one another at CFM alumni events. They also share career insights with our future and current students to help them realize their work goals.

CFM students enjoying a game of Jenga to take a study break at the Midterm Study Social

Students enjoying food and conversation

A room full of students chatting together

CFM events are well attended by students each term

Two professors leading a lecture room of students

First years meeting the CFM Co-Directors for the first time at the start of fall.

New first-year CFM students meeting each other for the first time.

Twenty five students posing for a group photo

CFM students gathering for a group photo at the Winter Welcome.

Two female students leading a talk in front of students

Students sharing their co-op experiences with first-year students at the Co-op Prep Event.

Our newest first-year students getting to know one another at the Fall Welcome.

Enjoying food and conversation at the Winter End of Term Social.

CFM Connect

CFM Connect is a peer-to-peer mentorship program that offers flash mentorship at regularly-scheduled events where students can seek guidance from student mentors to learn about co-op and career pathways, experiential development through specialized courses and international exchanges, and volunteer opportunities, among others. CFM Connect is available for students at all study levels.

Students can connect with a student mentor at all of our events during the year as well as during specially scheduled office hours.

Events

Each term, we gather our community to connect, take a break from studies, and learn. Our students get to participate in many events each term, with some special events for co-op and graduation.

Our students are invited to attend many different kinds of events:

Social — the Fall/Winter/Spring Welcome and End of Term Social, and Graduation Celebration
Academic-focused — the Midterm Study Social
Co-op and career-focused — the Co-op Prep Session (for first years), and Alumni Career Panel

There's always someone to reach out to. It wouldn't have been as easy to navigate my career without our community.

Keshav (BCFM '24)

Student experiences

The student experience isn’t just about lectures and exams—it’s a comprehensive journey that includes academic exploration, personal development, social connection, and career preparation. Each CFM student is different though many explore similar student experiences to grow their resume and develop their skills and abilities. There are many different opportunities available on campus for everyone.

Clubs and associations

Learn outside of the classroom with these problem-solving and skill-building opportunities.

In addition to program-specific clubs and associations, Waterloo offers many other student-led interest-based groups by the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA).

Athletics and recreation

Stay in shape and enjoy some fun by joining a Warrior recreation program or a varsity team. Waterloo has two main athletic facilities on campus, that include a swimming pool and arena, as well as gyms and recreational spaces in some colleges and residences.

There are roughly 2,500 drop-in fitness and wellness classes offered for different levels of experience. Participate in intramurals, racquet sports, dance, or martial arts, among others.

Compete against other university students in an individual or team sport by joining one of 19 sports with 32 varsity teams, ranging from badminton to rugby.

Competitions

Apply your skills with cases, hackathons, and conferences and grow your resume.

CFA Institute Research Challenge — Get hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics.
Hack the North — Participate in North America's largest 3-day hackathon and solve real-world problems.
hEDGE Finance Conference — Attend or help organize this multi-day capital markets conference for students.
Inter-Collegiate Business Competition (I.C.B.C.) — Compete in five competition streams (Finance, Accounting, Marketing, HR/Ethics, Business Policy).

Alumni

Alumni continue to contribute to our community by maintaining connection with their classmates, peers, and future and current students. More than 300 graduates hold a Bachelor of Computing and Financial Management (BCFM) degree. Each year, our CFM alumni group gets bigger and better.

Peer-to-peer connection

Alumni benefit immensely in their career development through the connections that they make with their peers in CFM. Many recent graduates are recruited for full-time roles by other CFM alumni in the workforce. They are also mentored on future career pathways and professional opportunities like the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and graduate studies.

In turn, alumni share their co-op and career development with future and current students and offer resume support, and sometimes offering co-op opportunities at their place of work.

CFM Alumni LinkedIn Group

We engage with graduates in our CFM Alumni group on LinkedIn. All graduates are invited to join the group via email following their June or October convocation.

Events

We connect with our alumni both locally and globally to catch up and find out about their professional development.

We host a number of events to stay connected, like lunches, dinners, and sporting events in Waterloo and Toronto and we have travelled to California, New York, and Hong Kong to connect with our alumni living and working there.