Co-op Program

The Co-op program is an optional program that allows students to gain engineering work experience prior to graduation. You may join co-op at any time up until your final year of academic studies, but most students join the co-op program in Level 1. 

Step 1: Login into OSCARplus and create your online profile. Click on My Account from the Dashboard tab and fill out the required information. 

Step 2: Ensure that your academic record on Mosaic has the Co-op option. If you registered with the Co-op option on your OUAC application, your record should already reflect the co-op option. If you do not see Co-op on your academic record, please contact our office for further instructions. 

Step 3: Register for the Undergraduate Co-op Prep Course, ENG 1EE0 on Mosaic. The course is offered as an online/in-person hybrid course.  

Step 4: Fill out the Undergraduate Registration Agreement. This agreement and all course material will be available to you via Avenue2Learn. 

Step 5 (International Students Only): International students must have a valid co-op work permit before they go out for a co-op work term. Please refer to McMaster University's International Student Services for all information on applying for your permit, what steps to take and how to complete your forms.

Please note: Students must be in good academic standing with the Faculty of Engineering in order to participate in the co-op program. 

The Co-op Program for Bachelor of Technology students is a mandatory program that allows students to gain engineering work experience prior to graduation. Students are required to complete a minimum of 12-months of work experience. 

Step 1: Login into OSCARplus and create your online profile. Click on My Account from the Dashboard tab and fill out required information. 

Step 2:

Option 1 (Year 1): Register and attend the following events through OSCARplus:

• GET IN THE SMALL PILE: How to Write Cover Letters & Resumes

• CAST YOUR NET WIDE: How to Search for a co-op

• BTech 1: Intro to Co-op & Interview Skills

Option 2 (Year 2+): Register for the Undergraduate Co-op Prep Course, ENGTECH 2PW3 on Mosaic. This course is offered in Year 2 during the 2A term. 

Step 3: Fill out the B. Tech Undergraduate Registration Agreement. This agreement will be given to you during your ENGTECH 2PW3 prep course. 

Step 4 (International Students Only): International students must have a valid co-op work permit before they go out for a co-op work term. Please refer to McMaster University's International Student Services for all information on applying for your permit, what steps to take and how to complete your forms.

Please note: Students must be in good academic standing with the Faculty of Engineering in order to participate in the co-op program. 

The Co-op Program for Bachelor of Technology, Degree Completion Program students is a mandatory program that allows students to gain engineering work experience prior to graduation. Students are required to complete a minimum of 8-months of work experience. The McMaster Engineering – Bachelor of Technology (DCP) program requires students to complete the following two courses prior to registration in final academic term.

• ENG TECH 2ET0 FOUR MONTH CO-OP EXPERIENCE I
• ENG TECH 3ET0 FOUR MONTH CO-OP EXPERIENCE II

How to receive credit for these courses?

Option 1 - Admission Co-op Credit Successful completion of co-op work term experience using transfer credit from relevant co-op completed in a college program. This will be assessed upon admission to your McMaster degree program and listed in your admissions letter.

Option 2 - Prior Learning Assessment: Current or Previous Program Specific Employment Experience Completion of a Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) to recognize significant work experience in a related field. Credit can be given towards your co-op requirements for this experience. All documents are online and will be submitted via your student OSCARplus account.

• To activate: Go to https://www.oscarplusmcmaster.ca/home.htm and log in under the Student/ Alumni Login using your McMaster Student ID and Password
• Under the Dashboard tab select the tab Select a Form
• Under Category select Engineering Co-op

Under Sub-Category select the DCP PLA Form. Once the form appears fill out the required information and upload any required documents. Once you have completed the form press Save. When submitted the Recruitment Assistant will review your application and contact you with any further steps.

Related Costs: $100 University administration fee per 4-month approval. *8 months, total cost $200.00

Option 3 - Co-op Option Completion of the co-op work terms while registered in the Degree Completion Program at McMaster University. Engineering Co-op and Career Services will provide access to hundred of co-op job postings available in length from 4 – 16 months. You must complete a minimum of 8 months of co-op work experience to graduate. You are eligible to apply and work in co-op jobs longer than 8 months. Students electing to go on co-op, must start co-op before you have 9 units or fewer remaining in your DCP program requirements. While on co-op, you may take up to 2 DCP courses, with approval from the Manager of Engineering Co-op.

Step 1: Register for the DCP Co-op Prep Course, ENGTECH 1ET0 through Mosaic. 

Step 2: Email Recruitment Assistant, to schedule a time to complete the ENGTECH 1ET0 course. This must be completed before you are eligible to go out for co-op work terms. 

Step 3: Fill out the DCP Registration Agreement and submit it to the Career Development and Relationship Manager. This form will be given to you at the time you take ENGTECH 1ET0. 

Step 4 (International Students Only): International students must have a valid co-op work permit before they go out for a co-op work term. Please refer to McMaster University's International Student Services for all information on applying for your permit, what steps to take and how to complete your forms.

 Related Costs: $600 per 4-month work term.

For questions 

The Co-op Program for Graduate students is an optional program that allows students to gain engineering work experience prior to graduation. Students are required to complete a minimum of 8-months of work experience for Masters students, and 12-months of work experience for Ph.D. students. 

Step 1: Login into OSCARplus and create your online profile. Click on My Account from the Dashboard tab and fill out required information. 

Step 2: Obtain your supervisor’s permission to participate in the co-op option and submit the Approval Form to the Career Development and Relationship Manager – Graduate Studies. Students will not be eligible to participate without their supervisor’s approval.

Step 3: Fill out the Graduate Registration Agreement and submit it to the Career Development and Relationship Manager – Graduate Studies.

Step 4: Register for the Graduate Co-op Prep Course, ENG 701 through Mosaic. This must be completed before you are eligible to go out for co-op work terms. 

Step 5 (International Students Only): International students must have a valid co-op work permit before they go out for a co-op work term. Please refer to McMaster University's International Student Services for all information on applying for your permit, what steps to take and how to complete your forms.

Please note: Only full-time Masters and Ph.D. students in good academic standing are eligible to participate.

The Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Sciences and Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences programs are a non-mandatory co-op program. Students can complete anywhere from 4-months to 24-months of verified co-op experience. The fee breakdown for these programs include:

$300.00 fee - per 4 month co-op term (eg. 12 month co-op = $900.00), charged at the time of securing a co-op

$100.00 fee - per academic year, charged every September 

Total fees charged:

$1,700.00 - Average total for a student who completes16-months of co-op experience over 5-years of academic studies

The Bachelor of Technology program is a mandatory program that allows students to gain engineering and technology work experience prior to graduation. Students are required to complete a minimum of 12-months of work experience prior to graduation. The fee breakdown for these programs include:

$600.00 fee - per 4 month co-op term (eg. 12 month co-op = $1800.00), charged at the time of securing a co-op. 

Any additional co-op terms above 12-months of experience are charged a $0 fee.

Total fees charged:

$1,800.00 - Total for a student who completes at least 12-months of co-op experience over 5-years of academic studies. 

The  Bachelor of Technology, Degree Completion Program is a mandatory program that allows students to gain engineering and technology work experience prior to graduation. Students are required to complete a minimum of 8-months of work experience prior to graduation. The fee breakdown for these programs include:

$600.00 fee - per 4 month co-op term (eg. 8-month co-op = $1200.00), charged at the time of securing a co-op. 

Any additional co-op terms above 8-months of experience are charged a $0 fee. 

Total fees charged:

$1,200.00 - Total for a student who completes at least 8-months of co-op experience over 2-years of academic studies. 

The Graduate co-op program is a optional program that allows students to gain engineering work experience prior to graduation. Masters students are required to complete 8-months of co-op work experience, and Ph.D. students are required to complete 12-months of co-op work experience prior to graduation. The fee breakdown for these programs include:

$1,200.00 fee - charged at the time a student secures a co-op opportunity 

Total fees charged:

$1,200.00 - For a Masters student. Required to complete 8-months of co-op experience over 2-years of academic studies. 

$1,200.00 - For a Ph.D. student. Required to complete 12-months of co-op experience over 4-years of academic studies. 

The co-op program for Bachelor of Engineering, Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences, and Computer Science students is optional. In order to receive the co-op designation on your degree program, you are required to complete a minimum of 12-months of co-op experience before graduation. If you do not complete 12-months of co-op, it will not affect your ability to graduate.

The Bachelor of Technology program is a mandatory co-op program. You must complete a minimum of 12-months of co-op experience prior to graduation. 

The Bachelor of Technology, Degree Completion Program is a mandatory co-op program. You must complete a minimum of 8-months of co-op experience prior to graduation. If you have previous work experience prior to starting this program, you can count this experience towards the co-op requirement. 

The Graduate Student Co-op is optional. Once enrolled, Master’s students are expected to complete 8-months of co-op experience, and PhD students are expected to complete 12-months of co-op experience.

For full details on the enrolment process, please click here. 

Absolutely! OSCARplus is only one resource that students are expected to use in their co-op job search, and is not the only resource that students must use. Job postings on OSCARplus have been pre-approved by our staff before advertising them to you. As long as a position meets the minimum requirements for co-op approval it can be submitted to our office for approval by one of our Career Development & Relationship Managers, who will ensure that this will be a valuable work experience for you.

Engineering Co-op & Career Services is here to support students in all of their experiential education choices and needs. We offer a wide variety of co-op and career development such as:

• 1:1 career advising
• Job Search Strategies
• Resume & Cover Letter Critiques
• Interview Skills (panel, phone, skype)
• Summer Research Opportunities
• Portfolio Development
• Career Fair Preparation
• How to Network
• How to Negotiate an Offer
• How to improve my Communication Skills
• How to Develop Business Acumen
• Employer Panels
• And more!

Yes! Our office is 100% student funded, all students in the Faculty of Engineering have the ability to access our student career services. This includes services such as resume/cover letter critiquing, job searching, interview preparation, general career support, and access to employer and professional development events.

Only students who are enrolled in the co-op program are eligible to participate in co-op work experiences.

Generally speaking, the only difference between co-op and internship is the length of the work experience.

Co-op positions are usually considered to be 4-12 months in length. Internships are long term co-op positions that are 16-months in length. Internships may also be referred to as "long-term co-ops" or "Professional Experience Year (PEY)".

Students in co-op programs can work on 4, 8, 12 or 16 months in length. Students are required to be in their next to final year of academic study before completing work terms of 12 or 16 months in length.

Co-op work experience gives you a competitive advantage over all other new graduates. You have the ability to stay you already have a minimum of 1 year or more total paid work experience in your field. You can also count this co-op experience towards your PEO certification, if you meet the qualifications.

The most obvious distinction is that you will graduate with a co-op designation on your degree and all the work you have done (even if you do not meet the 12-months of co-op requirement) will be recorded on your transcript. However, there are many other benefits to doing co-op.

With a co-op degree, you will gain valuable work experience and technical skills that can boost your resume, which will aid your future career development. Your experiences will also create a job network that will be useful once you are looking for full-time permanent positions in the future.

Co-op is a component of a student's academic studies. In order to participate in the co-op program, you must be a full-time undergraduate student, and in good academic standing in the Faculty of Engineering. Changes to student status may result in termination from the co-op program, at the discretion of ECCS. (“In good standing” does not include reinstatement, academic and/or program probation). 

Since our office is 100% student funded, we rely on the collection of student fees to provide our wide range of services to all of our engineering students. McMaster University Engineering Co-op has one of the lowest co-op fee structures in Canada compared to.other Canadian universities.

In the McMaster Faculty of Engineering, the bulk of the fees that students pay for co-op are charged when the student has received a co-op position. We find this to be the most economically viable time to charge students, rather than a large sum of fees at the start of the school year on top of regular tuition. For a full breakdown of fees, please click here.

You are allowed to take one academic course per 4-month co-op work term. Engineering Co-op & Career Services strongly recommends that you receive approval from your supervisor prior to course registration. While you are on a co-op work term, students are encouraged to focus on the work experience. It is not recommended to take an academic course which disrupts the regular hours of your work term. 

For students in Engineering, Computer Science, and Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences, you can still graduate without completing 12-months of verified co-op experience; however, you will not graduate with the co-op designation on your degree program.

For students in the Bachelor of Technology program, 12-months of verified co-op work experience is required before you can graduate.

Depending on your program, you have the option of working a verified co-op experience from as short as 4-months to as long as 16-months in duration. For more information about when you can work, please click here.

Yes, if your work qualifies for PEO Pre-Graduate Experience, you can count it towards the requirements for obtaining your P. Eng license. Please visit the PEO website to view the requirements to count your co-op work experience towards your certification.

Yes! If you receive OSAP loans and are participating on co-op, you must ensure that your co-op is fully registered with ECCS in order to maintain interest free status on your loans. If you do not notify ECCS, you will be contacted by National Student Loan Service Centre to begin repayment on your loans. 

Once you fully registered you co-op with ECCS, you must contact the Office of Student Financial Aid & Scholarships directly to complete the appropriate paperwork.