Recruit skilled talent for your startup, scaleup or small business

Waterloo co-op students pitching a project to a small business, writing on a board and working at a science startup.

Unlock the support you need with co-op students.

As your business grows, you’ll need the right skills to propel success. Co-op students are an affordable way to bring fresh ideas for strategies, technologies, financial plans and policies. Hiring a Waterloo co-op student can help you to fill any talent gaps while reducing your recruitment costs.

Our students can apply their knowledge from the classroom and their experience in industry to your business. The future of work is changing. Hiring co-op students can help you stay up to date with the emerging workforce. Invest in the right talent to help your business succeed now and in the future.

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Why hire Waterloo?

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Access 26,000+ co-op students

It’s easy to find the talent you need each year.
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Fund up to 50 per cent of student salaries

Apply to grants, tax credits and other funding programs.
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Dedicated service team

We’re here to support your hiring needs.

Roles co-op students can fill

Tap into valuable skills of Waterloo co-op students in areas such as:

Business and administrative support services

Sample jobs

Sample job responsibilities

Customer service representative

Provide quality customer service, including interacting with customers, answering customer enquiries and effectively handling customer complaints.

Human resources assistant

Maintain accurate and up-to-date human resources information and related records systems.

Project management associate

Assist with research, analysis and presentation preparation, including document drafting and proofreading.

Sustainability co-ordinator

Perform energy and waste audits, making improvement suggestions to improve environmental footprint.

Technical writer

Create clear and concise technical documentation to effectively communicate complex information to diverse audiences.

Engineering

Sample jobs 

Sample job responsibilities  

Backend engineering assistant

Design, develop, test, deploy and maintain platforms and micro-services.

Engineering technician

Communicate technical activities and updates to end users, observe technology use, identify gaps and improvements, and present design solutions for feedback and review.

Product development associate

Create test reports for evaluations, including recommendations on best practices and identifying opportunities for new product features.

Structural designer intern

Analyze and design basic elements within new and existing buildings and a variety of different structures in accordance with building codes.

Marketing and digital content creation

Sample jobs

Sample job responsibilities

Digital content and social media co-ordinator

Develop and contribute to the creation of engaging content and campaigns on social media platforms.

Marketing specialist

Perform market analysis and competitor benchmarking to stay ahead of industry trends and refine marketing tactics.

UX designer

Assist in designing and maintaining an intuitive experience and modern style for highly scalable web applications.

Website developer and designer

Develop front-end experiences that engage online audiences.

Research and analysis

Sample jobs

Sample job responsibilities

Data analyst

Report and analyze mobile, web and social data through user path and engagement activity.

Digital analyst

Prepare, analyze and interpret data using statistical techniques to produce reports and PowerBI dashboards.

Financial analyst

Analyze historical sales data to create recommendations and projections.

Supply chain analyst

Work with vendors to establish production schedules that align with company requirements and production goals.

Fund your next hire

Hiring a co-op student through the subsidies and grants below can be an affordable way of building a sustainable talent strategy!

Student Work Placement Program (SWPP)

Through SWPP, Canadian organizations that offer full-time employment opportunities for full-time Canadian post-secondary students can receive wage subsidies.

Funding will cover up to 50 per cent in wage subsidies (to a max. of $5,000) per co-op student hired for each 12–16-week work term. Students hired from under-represented groups may be eligible to have up to 70 per cent of their wages subsidized. Eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis at the end of each work term.

Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit  

Large corporations can claim 25 per cent of expenditures, up to $3,000 per work placement. Small businesses can claim 30 per cent, up to $3,000. Each work placement must be at least 10 weeks and up to 4 months. This tax credit is available for each eligible work placement. Employers may have multiple work placements at the same time and throughout the year.

The tax credit is per eligible work placement and there is no cap. If an organization decides to hire for an eight-month work term, or two students for four-month work terms, both would be considered as two work placements and would be eligible for a total tax credit of up to $6,000.

Find the right talent today.

Connect with us! 🚀

University of Waterloo’s Co-operative Education experts are here to support you. Our team of industry strategists can help guide your recruitment strategy and answer questions about hiring top co-op talent.

Email: hire.talent@uwaterloo.ca

Industry-leading companies hire co-op students

Group of Waterloo co-op students and staff smiling and standing in front of Mycro Harvest labelled shipping container
Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Engineering sustainable food solutions: Waterloo co-op students use AI technology to improve mushroom production

By: Krista Henry (she/her)

Future-ready engineers at startup Mycro Harvest are leveraging Waterloo co-op students to assist their smart farms by using artificial intelligence (AI) to increase food production and help meet future demand.