Skip to McMaster Navigation Skip to Site Navigation Skip to main content
McMaster Logo McMaster logo

Faculty of Engineering

Co-op for Undergraduate Engineering Students

The Faculty of Engineering offers an optional co-op program for Bachelor of Engineering, Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences, and Computer Science Students. Co-op is a mandatory component of all Bachelor of Technology programs, including the BTech Degree Completion Program.

Enrol in the Co-op Program

BEng, IBEHS, and CompSci: Co-op is an optional program for Bachelor of Engineering, Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences, and Computer Science students. 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 or select it when applying to university through OUAC. If you do not have co-op showing on your Mosaic student record, you need to ask your Academic Advisor to transfer you into the co-op program. You must complete a minimum of 12 months (or 3 terms) of co-op in this program.

BTech and BTech DCP students do not need to enrol in co-op as this is a mandatory part of your degree program.

All new co-op students must login to OSCARplus and create an online profile. Click on My Account in the Dashboard and fill out the required information.

NOTE: Students must be in good academic standing to participate in co-op.

Co-op Preparation Course

All co-op students are required to complete a co-op preparation course before they can have access to co-op job boards or be approved for a co-op job. This course explains the co-op process and expectations, and helps you succeed in your co-op job search and on the job.

BEng, IBEHS, CompSci AND BTech students are required to complete ENGINEER 1EE0. (BTech DCP students: see below.) This course is offered every year in the fall and winter terms. Once completed, you are eligible to search for and accept jobs during the co-op terms in your academic program plan. The course is offered online on Avenue to Learn.

Starting in Fall 2020, if you are a first-year student who applied and was admitted to a BEng or IBEHS co-op program or a BTech (4.5-year) program through OUAC, you will automatically be enrolled in ENGINEER 1EE0 in the fall term of your first year.

If you opt-in to the co-op program after being admitted to a general engineering degree program, you should plan to take 1EE0 as soon as possible so that you are eligible to search for and accept co-op jobs. You will enrol yourself in this course on Mosaic and by the drop/add date for the term in which you plan to take the course.

BTech DCP students are required to complete ENGTECH 1ET0. This course is offered in all three terms every year. You will meet with the Career Educator for DCP students to complete the course content. Please make an ENGTECH 1ET0 appointment on OSCARplus early in your degree program. You may enrol yourself in this course on Mosaic by the drop/add date for the term.

NOTE: Enrolling in 1ET0 does not automatically create an appointment to complete the course, nor will anyone contact you about this — it is your responsibility to make this appointment yourself.

Co-op Fees & Financial Information

Co-op fees charged to students support the services provided by ECCS. (For information on OSAP, please scroll to the end.)

BEng, IBEHS and CompSci students:

  • An annual fee of $100 will be charged to your Mosaic account each year that you are in the co-op program. It is usually assessed in September. If you join the co-op program at another time in the year, the first installment of this fee will be charged in that term; all other installments will be charged in September. The fee will be due on the due date for the particular term.
  • A fee of $350 is charged for each 4-month co-op term that you register. This fee will be charged to your Mosaic student account when you are enrolled in the co-op course ENGINEER 2EC0 (BEng and CompSci student) or IBEHS 2EC0 (IBEHS students). The fee will be due on the due date for the particular term.
  • NOTE: The ECCS office will enrol you in your co-op course when we process your co-op registration; you do not need to enrol yourself.

BTech students:

  • A fee of $600 is charged for each 4-month co-op term that you register to a maximum of $1,800. This fee will be charged to your Mosaic student account when you are enrolled in the co-op course ENGTECH 2EE0, ENGTECH 3EE0 or ENGTECH 4EE0. The fee will be due on the due date for the particular term. 
  • NOTE: The ECCS office will enrol you in your co-op course when we process your co-op registration; you do not need to enrol yourself. Also, when you have reached your maximum in co-op fees, our office will request a reversal of subsequent fees by the Registrar’s Office; this can take up to two weeks after your are enrolled in the co-op course.
  • Because co-op is a mandatory component of their program, BTech students do not pay an annual co-op fee.

BTech DCP students:

  • A fee of $600 is charged for each 4-month co-op term that you register to a maximum of $1,200. This fee will be charged to your Mosaic student account when you are enrolled in the co-op course ENGTECH 2ET0 or ENGTECH 3ET0. The fee will be due on the due date for the particular term. Students who have previous work experience may be eligible to count up to eight months of this experience towards the co-op requirement. Please see below, When Can I Work?, for more information.
  • NOTE: The ECCS office will enrol you in your co-op course when we process your co-op registration; you do not need to enrol yourself. Also, when you have reached your maximum in co-op fees, our office will request a reversal of subsequent fees by the Registrar’s Office; this can take up to two weeks after your are enrolled in the co-op course.
  • Because co-op is a mandatory component of their program, BTech DCP students do not pay an annual co-op fee.

OSAP: Students on co-op jobs are eligible for interest-free status on their OSAP loans. However, you are responsible for submitting the required Continuation of Interest-Free Status form yourself. Please see the Registrar’s Office website for more information on OSAP. You should also contact the Registrar’s Office through the above link if you have any questions about OSAP or financial aid.

For more details of what your fees cover, see Why Co-op?

Questions about the recent fee increase for BEng, Comp Sci and IBEHS? Explore our Frequently Asked Questions page.

When Can I Work?

Our co-op program is highly flexible and customizable with many different options depending on when you want to work. Some typical co-op sequences include:

The Bachelor of Engineering and Computer Sciences programs are non-mandatory co-op programs. Students can complete anywhere from four months to 24 months of verified co-op experience. For more information on these programs, please visit the departments, schools and programs web page.

This graphic shows different ways to organize co-op in bachelor of engineering and computer science program.
Three options to organize co-op within a Bachelor of Engineering (four-year) or Computer Science program. Option A: Co-op in the spring of your first, second and third years. Option B: Co-op in the spring of your first and second year, and a 16 month co-op stretching from third-year spring to fourth-year spring, inclusive. Option C: Co-op in the spring of your first, second and third years, and additional co-op in the winter of your fourth year through to the fall of your fifth year. 

The Bachelor of Engineering (5-year) programs and Integrated Biomedical Engineering & Health Sciences programs are non-mandatory co-op programs. Students can complete anywhere from 4 months to 28 months of verified co-op experience. For more information on these programs, please click here.

Bachelor of Engineering, 5-Year programs include: Engineering & Management, Engineering & Society, and Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

This graphic shows different ways to organize co-op in bachelor of engineering (five year) and integrated biomedical engineering & health sciences program.
Three options to organize co-op within a Bachelor of Engineering (five-year) or the iBioMed program. Option A: Co-op in the spring of your first, second, third and fourth years. Option B: Co-op in the spring of your first, second and third year, and co-op from the spring of your fourth year through to your fifth year, inclusive. Option C: Co-op in the spring of your first, second, third, fourth years, and more co-op in the winter of your fifth year through to the fall of your sixth year, inclusive.

The Bachelor of Technology program is a mandatory co-op program. Students are required to complete a minimum of 12 months of verified co-op experience prior to graduation. Students may complete additional co-op terms to a maximum of 24 months of verified co-op experience. For more information on these programs, please visit the W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology website.

One option to organize Bachelor of Technology (4.5 year) program with co-op. Option A: Co-op in the spring of your first and second year, co-op in the winter and spring of your third year, and co-op in the spring of your fourth year.

The Bachelor of Technology, Degree Completion Program is a mandatory co-op program. Students in the Bachelor of Technology, Degree Completion Program are required to complete a minimum of 8 months of work experience prior to the completion of their final academic term. The eight months of co-op work term experience may be acquired through any of the following:

  • Two 4-month co-op work terms
  • One 8-month co-op work term
  • Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) which validates previous work experience deemed to be the equivalent or greater of either one 4-month or two 4-month co-op work experiences. Previous work experience is qualified as either full time continuing employment or a recognized co-op experience (at another institution) that occurred prior to admission into the BTech program.

Students can combine any of the above options to meet the minimum equivalent of 8 months of co-op work experience.

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 deemed to be the equivalent or greater of either one 4-month or two 4-month co-op work experiences. A Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) recognizes and grants credit 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 OSCARplus 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, your application will be reviewed and we will contact you with any further steps.

Cost: $100 University administration fee for each qualifying 4-month work experience (total cost for 8 months of experience = $200)

Option 3 – Co-op Option: Completion of co-op work terms while registered in the Degree Completion Program at McMaster University. Engineering Co-op and Career Services (ECCS) will provide access to co-op job postings available in length from 4 to 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 return to a minimum of 9 academic units in their DCP program following completion of their co-op work term. While on co-op, you may take up to 2 DCP courses, with approval from ECCS.

Cost: $600 work term fee for each approved 4-month work experience.

For questions

Co-op Requirements Academic Advising Requirements
engcar@mcmaster.ca

905-525-9140 x22571

 engserv@mcmaster.ca

Online Chatbot – “click to chat”