Co-operative Education

Shirley and Melinda wearing white coats, standing in front of Pharmacy Care Clinic

Co-operative Education (co-op) is a well-established educational model that promotes continuous learning through the integration of classroom and applied work-based learning.

Our program is the only pharmacy co-op program in Canada, and one of two in North America. Co-op has been a part of the curriculum at the University of Waterloo for over 50 years. Our students must complete three pharmacy co-op work terms as part of the PharmD degree requirements. The School’s role is to promote a synergistic experience for students and employers, while meeting programmatic learning needs, to ensure the ongoing success of co-op.

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1,000+ employers

  • We currently have 4 jobs/student, more variety for you to choose from
  • Choose where you want to work and which practice setting
  • Tailor your co-op jobs to your future pharmacy career

Earn while you learn

  • Our students typically make over $10,000 per work term, enough to cover up to 60% of tuition costs with the potential to earn up to 95%
  • Three co-op work terms to provide you with real-world experience to be practice-ready pharmacists
  • Enrich your skillset: learn how to navigate job interviews, clinical knowledge, patient care

Find your fit

  • Explore different career options and find what interests you
  • Start forming your pharmacy network before graduating
  • Explore pharmacy in a safe learning environment in the real-world

What’s the difference between co-op, community service learning and rotations?

Co-op is just one part of our experiential learning program, learn more about pharmacy experiential learning.