2023 OUGS Survey

• To be eligible for the $5.00 Incentive gift card, the 2023 Ontario University Graduate survey must be completed.
• Eligibility for the Incentive opens on November 5, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. E.T., and closes on April 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. E.T.
• CCI Research Inc. will make one attempt to send a gift card to the provided email address. CCI Research Inc. is not responsible for lost, stolen, or misdirected gift cards.

The Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES) has contracted CCI Research Inc. (the Contractor) to conduct the annual Ontario University Graduate Survey of labour market outcomes (the Survey).

The purpose of this survey is to compile and publish aggregate information about employment status, job characteristics and continued schooling in a way that does not identify any individual. This information is used for research and to help current and future students make informed decisions about their post-secondary options and career choices.

Participation in the survey is voluntary. Every university has provided the names, student numbers, contact information, university program information, gender, and language of communication of its graduates to the Contractor for the purpose of conducting the Survey.

The Ministry requires the Contractor to protect privacy by:

• Using the personal information for the sole purpose of conducting the Survey.
• Providing only depersonalized (name, student number, and contact information removed) survey responses and summary reports at the aggregated level to the universities and the Ministry.
• Assigning a unique Survey Number to each graduate and using it only to:
  • Determine if their response has been received;
  • Compile data from the Survey based on graduate characteristics; and
  • Manage incentives.
• Protecting personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Data Act and the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, including:
  • Storing it in a physically secure location separate from other records; and,
  • Applying administrative, technical and physical safeguards that protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of personal information.
• Securely destroying all personal information 18 months after the depersonalized survey responses and summary reports have been transmitted to and reviewed by the universities and the Ministry.

The Ministry will use the results of the Survey to:

• Publish aggregate information about labour market outcomes;
• Evaluate post-secondary funding, programs and policy; for policy analysis and for statistical activities relating to post-secondary education; and
• Support other research projects consistent with these objectives carried out by third parties.

CCI Research Inc. is committed to protecting your privacy in relation to your personal information and maintains administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of personal information in accord with the above statement. For more information about the collection, use, disclosure and treatment of your personal information at CCI Research Inc. please contact us by e-mail at privacy@cci-research.com, or by telephone at 1-888-246-8068 extension 400, or by mail at 71 Broadway, Orangeville, Ontario L9W 1K1.

1. What is OUGS?

The Ontario University Graduate Survey (OUGS) is conducted annually by the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES), formerly the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU), with support from Ontario universities, to collect data on employment rates, labour outcomes and experiences of alumni from undergraduate programs, both six months and two years after graduation. Over 25,000 graduates complete this survey each year.

See the Institutional Analysis and Planning (IAP) OUGS main webpage for more details.

2. How often is the survey run?

OUGS is administered annually to students who graduated from undergraduate programs two years prior. The last survey was sent to 2022 graduates in summer/fall 2025.

3. When does the survey take place?

The survey of 2023 graduates is available from November 5, 2025 to April 30, 2026.

4. Who can participate in the survey?

All 2023 graduates from undergraduate programs with valid mailing and email addresses, who have signed up to receive communications from the University of Waterloo through Alumni Relations.

5. How can students participate?

2023 graduates will receive an email invitation and reminder emails from CCI (invite@cci-survey.com) at the email address(es) registered with Alumni Relations. Email invitations will include a unique survey link for each respondent.

6. Why should students participate in the survey?

This is an opportunity for alumni to provide feedback on their post-graduation employment to help current and future students understand the employment prospects of recent university graduates. Your response helps to determine labour outcomes of your program, institution, and graduating year, such as employment rate. The employment rate is one of the performance metrics used by the Ministry (MCURES) to measure outcomes and allocate government funding for universities across the province.

7. How long does the survey take?

Less than 6 minutes of your time.

8. What are the incentives?

After completing the survey, CCI Research Inc will email a $5 gift card of your choice from one of the following vendors: Tim Hortons®, !ndigo.ca®, and Ultimate Dining Card®. CCI Research Inc. will make one attempt to send a gift card to the provided email address. CCI Research Inc. is not responsible for lost, stolen, or misdirected gift cards.

9. When will the results be available?

Summer 2026.

10. Where and how will the results be displayed?

Recent Ontario universities survey results can be found on the Ontario University Employment Outcomes webpage. Waterloo-specific results can be found on the Institutional Analysis and Planning (IAP) Key Performance Indicators (KPI) webpage

11. How are the results used?

The Ministry will use the survey results:

• to publish aggregate information about labour market outcomes;
• to evaluate post-secondary funding, programs and policy; for policy analysis and for statistical activities relating to post-secondary education; and
• to support other research projects consistent with these objectives, carried out by third parties.

12. Will my responses be kept confidential?

Participation in this survey is confidential and voluntary. Although some questions within this survey require a response before proceeding to the next, you may opt out of the survey at any time by closing the survey. See the Privacy Policy above for more details.

• For general enquiries about this survey at Waterloo, please email analysis@uwaterloo.ca.
• If you wish to provide anonymous feedback about your experience at Waterloo, please complete the Anonymous Feedback Form.