When you hire a student enrolled in a co-operative education program, there are a number of tax credits that you can take advantage of. We make it easy by providing all employers with a letter from the University and the tax receipts that you need to submit when filing your taxes.
As an official Waterloo employer, you can get a receipt from our job portal, WaterlooWorks. For help on finding your receipts and necessary documents in WaterlooWorks, visit our page on how to obtain a tax credit receipt.
Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit
| Amount: | Large corporations can claim 25% of expenditures, up to $3,000 per work placement. Small businesses can claim 30%, up to $3,000. Each work placement needs to be minimum of 10 weeks and maximum of 4 months. This tax credit is available for each eligible work placement and 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 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. |
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| Who can apply (eligibility): | Any Ontario employer hiring students from a post-secondary co-op program |
| How to apply: |
Corporations claim the tax credit on Schedule 550 of their T2 corporation income tax return. Unincorporated businesses claim the credit on Form ON479 in their personal tax return. Learn more about the forms you need to submit on the government website. |
| Application deadline: | Tax season each year |
Other credits and incentives
Available across Canada: Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Credit
| Amount: | 15 -35% tax credits for eligible expenditures, which may include the salaries of co-op students |
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| Who can apply (eligibility): | Canadian businesses of all sizes and in all sectors who complete research and development in Canada. This includes basic research, applied research and experiential development. |
| How to apply: |
Corporations claim the tax credit on Schedule 508 and file it with their T2 corporation income tax return. Learn more about the forms you need to submit on the government website. |
| Application deadline: | Tax season each year |
