Frequently Asked Questions

UTM offers a variety of different curricular experiential learning (EL) opportunities.

The UTMCIP is a co-op internship program modelled after the definition established by Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada). Co-op internship programs include one work experience period (i.e., a minimum of 12 weeks and/or 420 hours full-time paid experience) where students receive an in-depth exposure to one employer organization, which provides students the opportunity for development commensurate with the length of the overall program.

Academic internships are courses that are designed to supplement classroom learning with practical work-based experience. They are offered in upper-year courses across academic programs and allow undergraduate students to apply specialized knowledge acquired in their field through a 100 to 200-hour work placement for academic credit. Academic internships may be paid or unpaid.

Students that enroll in the UTMCIP will participate in a 12- or 16-month Work Term consisting of one full-time work experience between Year of Study 3 and Year of Study 4. As a result, the time to degree completion for students enrolled in the UTMCIP is normally expected to be 5 years.

As per CEWIL Canada accreditation requirements, UTMCIP students must return to full-time studies after completing their Work Term. Students returning for only one academic term must be enrolled in at least 1.5 credits in that term.

The UTMCIP is a new co-op internship program run directly by the Experiential Education Unit in the Office of the Vice-Principal Academic and Dean at the Mississauga campus, which allows UTM to better meet the academic and professional needs of our student population. The Professional Experience Year (PEY) Co-op Program is run by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the St. George campus and, while the UTMCIP and PEY Co-op Program may employ similar structures, the latter primarily enrolls Engineering students and targets a different student population with different career interests. The UTMCIP is exclusive to and tailored to meet the needs of UTM students, offering work-readiness preparation and work opportunities across a broader range of industries.

With the launch of the UTMCIP, UTM students will no longer be permitted to participate in the Professional Experience Year (PEY) Co-op Program offered by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, effective immediately. 

UTM has introduced the UTMCIP as a co-op internship program run directly through our campus, which will allow UTM to better meet the academic and professional needs of our student population. While the UTMCIP and Professional Experience Year (PEY) Co-op Program have similar structures (i.e., include preparatory modules and a paid work experience between 12 and 16 months), the PEY Co-op Program primarily targets Engineering students in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and necessarily caters to a different student population with different career interests than UTM students. The UTMCIP is tailored to meet the needs of UTM students, offering students work-readiness preparation and work opportunities across a broader range of industries. 

Both UTMCIP students and PEY Co-op students use the same U of T Co-op Portal to identify and apply to job opportunities. The UofT Co-op Portal is a new university-wide system that brings together employers looking to hire UofT interns across all of the co-op programs offered by the St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough campuses. 

This option is not available to UTMCIP students at this time.

Students with part-time status may be considered for the program if they have received accommodation from the University. An example of an accommodation may include, but is not limited to, having a reduced course-load accommodation with Accessibility Services. Students with part-time status who have received accommodation from the University and wish to apply to a UTMCIP stream must contact coopinternship.utm@utoronto.ca.

Please see Student Eligibility Requirements on the Program Details page.

Students apply to the UTMCIP by first adding the regular stream of a participating program in ACORN. They must then complete a separate application process, which will be available on our website in June. Applications are not processed through ACORN.

Please see the Application Process on the Program Details page.

Students can apply to the UTMCIP by adding the regular stream of a participating program in ACORN and then submitting an online UTMCIP Application Form 2026-27 to join the UTMCIP stream of the same program using the Microsoft Form that will become available on our website in June.

Student applications to join the UTMCIP in Fall 2026 will open on June 1, 2026 and close on June 26, 2026, at 11:59pm.

There is no application fee to apply. No late applications will be accepted.

Summer courses offered in both the F and S terms will be considered when assessing UTMCIP applications. Please note that you must meet Subject POSt requirements and UTMCIP entry requirements to gain admission to the program. Please be advised that due to limited spots, admission is not guaranteed.

Students will be able to accept or refuse the invitation to join the UTMCIP on ACORN starting September 8, 2025. 

Please note that while students can accept or refuse invitations to the regular program stream at any time before the deadline. 

Students invited to join the UTMCIP stream of a program on ACORN may refuse the invitation.

As of April 1, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that co-op work permits are no longer required, as long as the work placement is a mandatory component of your academic program.

UTMCIP students are no longer required to apply for a co-op work permit to participate in their UTMCIP work term.

If your employer requests confirmation that you are enrolled in a co-op internship program and are eligible to participate in a work term, please contact us at coopinternship.utm@utoronto.ca. We will provide you with a Confirmation of Enrolment letter via email.

Please review this page for more information on co-op work permits: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/intern.html

Please see the Office of the Registrar’s webpage on Academic Standing for full details. Students are also encouraged to speak with the Undergraduate Advisor in their department.

Students cannot enroll in more than one co-op program at the University of Toronto. Students cannot be enrolled in both the UTMCIP and complete a University of Toronto certificate with an experiential learning component. 

Upon admission to the UTMCIP, students will be enrolled in a series of four Work-Readiness Modules to prepare them for the employment Recruitment Cycle. 

Following completion of all four modules, students will be granted access to the University of Toronto Co-op Portal, which they will use to secure a work experience for their 12- or 16-month Work Term.

UTMCIP Work-Readiness Modules must be completed sequentially. Each module has a firm deadline, typically aligned with the end of the academic term, that must be met in order for students to unlock the successive module. For example, the deadline to complete Module 1 for students who joined the UTMCIP in September 2024 is December 3, 2024. Students are welcome and encouraged to complete the module before this deadline.

Please note that the UTMCIP Work-Readiness Modules include quizzes and/or assignments with recommended deadlines to allow the assessment team to provide students with tailored and meaningful feedback. Recommended deadlines can be found on Quercus. If students miss the recommended deadlines, they may receive a reminder e-mail from UTMCIP staff, but the quizzes and/or assignments will remain open until the module completion deadline. 

Students who fail to complete a module will be given an opportunity to retake it once before moving on to the next module. They will not be required to pay an additional fee for the retake. Students that do not complete the required modules within the designated timeframe will be removed from the UTMCIP stream and continue in the regular program stream after consultation with the Undergraduate Advisor in the corresponding academic unit. 

In situations where extenuating circumstances may prevent a student from completing a Work-Readiness Module, students are strongly encouraged to contact the UTMCIP staff for guidance and support.

Students must complete Module 3 of the Preparatory Program in order to proceed onto the Recruitment Cycle and the Work Term. Please see the “Program Sequence” section on the Program Details page for more details.

University of Toronto (UofT) staff work closely with employers to populate the UofT Co-op Portal with job opportunities that are substantial and relevant to UofT undergraduate students in a wide variety of academic disciplines. Our employer partners recognize the value that UofT undergraduate students bring to the workforce and specifically seek highly skilled students through the UofT Co-op Portal to contribute to their organizations. 

Students who prefer to secure their own work experiences through personal connections will be permitted to do so, but all self-secured work experiences must be vetted and approved by UTMCIP staff in accordance with tri-campus employer guidelines. Hiring into self-secured work experiences will still flow through the University of Toronto (UofT) Co-op Portal and students will be expected to follow the normal work term sequences for the program. 

The Recruitment Cycle intentionally mimics a real-world job search process. It is the responsibility of the student to search for, apply to, and interview with employers. While the UTMCIP cannot guarantee that students will be hired by employers, UTMCIP staff will make every effort to prepare students for the Recruitment Cycle and help them navigate the job search process.

Students who do not secure a work experience for a Work Term will be removed from the UTMCIP stream in order to avoid incurring any additional program fees. Students will continue in the regular program stream after consultation with the Undergraduate Advisor in the corresponding academic unit, in alignment with departmental undergraduate advising processes.

A Work Term consists of a 12- or 16-month paid, full-time work experience in the private, not for-profit, and/or public sectors. A student's Work Term begins following the completion of Year of Study 3 and takes place between Year of Study 3 and Year of Study 4. Depending on the work experience, students may begin their work term at the earliest on May 1st (for a 16-month work term) and at the latest on September 1st (for a 12-month work term). Any work experiences that begin between May 2nd and August 31st must be 12 months in duration.

Students will be paid based on sector and industry standards for the duration of their Work Term. It is the responsibility of each student to honour the conditions of that work term. This includes the agreed-upon duration, working hours, and confidentiality requirements.

Job opportunities available in the UofT Co-op Portal will indicate whether the Work Term will be 12 or 16 months in length. Work Terms (including self-secured) may begin as early as May 1st (for a 16-month Work Term) and at the latest on September 1st (for a 12-month Work Term). Any Work Term beginning between May 2nd and August 31st will be 12 months in duration.

Students can participate in work experiences offered locally, nationally, and internationally, the latter in consultation with UTM’s International Education Centre. All work experiences will be vetted and approved by UTMCIP staff in accordance with tri-campus employer guidelines.

All students interested in participating in work experiences outside of Canada must first consult with UTMCIP staff, who will ensure that students have access to the necessary supports to succeed in an international work environment. All international work experiences must be vetted and approved by UTMCIP staff in accordance with tri-campus employer guidelines. Students must also review the University of Toronto’s Safety Abroad requirements. 

All work experiences facilitated through the UTMCIP are paid positions. Students can expect to be paid based on sector and industry standards for the duration of their 12- or 16-month Work Term.

Students may not enroll in full-time academic study during a Work Term. Students may not take more than one 0.5 credit course during each 4-month work period. In order to enroll in academic courses while on Work Term, students must first consult with their employer and receive approval from their academic unit. Students must complete and submit a request form, available on the UTMCIP Quercus Page, with the appropriate sign-off from their employer and academic unit. 

Students are required to notify UTMCIP staff in the EEU of any challenges or issues that they may encounter while completing their work experience. UTMCIP staff will work closely with campus partners to ensure that students receive the necessary support to succeed in the workplace.

• Yes, students can go on international exchange before or after their Work Term. All students who intend to go on exchange must submit a UTMCIP Exchange Intent Declaration Form. Each host institution listed on the Learning Abroad website includes information about credit equivalency, outlining how the host institution’s course load converts to the University of Toronto’s full‑credit equivalents (FCE). It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they are enrolled in full‑time studies (i.e., 2.5 University of Toronto FCEs) through the host institution.
  • Note: Meeting the requirement of 2.5 U of T FCEs at the host institution also necessarily satisfies the UTMCIP requirement that students must be enrolled in a minimum of 1.5 U of T credits in the academic terms directly before and after their Work Term.
• Once students have confirmed their exchange with the host institution, they are required to forward their official acceptance letter to: coopinternship.utm@utoronto.ca.

Yes, both domestic and international students may complete their Work Term internationally. Students are advised to connect first with a Student Development Officer to discuss job opportunities of interest. The Student Development Officer will then connect the student with the International Education Centre, who can provide guidance on the legal documentation required to apply to and secure job opportunities in the target country.

• For the best support to learn your options and plan your next steps, you'll want to connect with IEC’s Immigration Advising Team. Please follow these steps to book an online appointment with an Immigration Advisor:
  • Login to Folio (opens in a new tab).
  • Click the “Appointments” button in the “Find what you want here” section.
  • You can also visit/bookmark:  https://folio.utoronto.ca/students/appointments/.
  • Select an Advisor if you know who you would like to book with or under "What would you like to talk about?" select the topic you wish to book an appointment for.
  • A list of available appointments will appear.
  • Select your preferred appointment.
  • Select "View Appointment" and review the details included.
  • Select your preferred format if applicable (below the details).
  • Click “Book”.
    • Note:  Folio in most cases will convert to the time zone you are located in, please be sure to confirm the time of your appointment and ensure you join at the correct time.
• Please email international.utm@utoronto.ca if you experience any challenges accessing Folio with at minimum 3 dates and times in ET that you are available to connect with an Immigration Advisor over the next 2 weeks and the IEC can help to schedule an appointment for you. Please note that appointments are booked on a first come first serve basis, so the more availability provided will allow us to assist you better in securing an appointment!
• Alternatively, the IEC also offers in-person immigration advising drop-in hours from Tuesday to Thursday, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, at the Student Services Hub Hello Desk.
  • Note: Drop-in advising is available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

UTMCIP Program Fees are applied under ancillary fees on student accounts. Students should pay their account balance by October 15 to avoid monthly service charge fees. Interest is accrued on outstanding balances on the 16th of each month.

Questions related to student accounts should be directed to Financial Aid Advisors in the Office of the Registrar.

The UTMCIP is an optional paid program.

Every student registered in the UTMCIP is required to pay UTMCIP Program Fees as established by the University. These fees cover the cost of operations including, but not limited to, registration, stakeholder relations, program staffing, business development, curriculum design and iteration, delivery of preparatory program through mandatory Work-Readiness Modules, ongoing student support, and grading. UTMCIP Program Fees are calculated in accordance with the Government of Ontario and University of Toronto policies and paid over a series of six installments. Please refer to the Program Fees section on the Information for Students webpage.

Students will only be charged tuition fees if enrolled in courses while on Work Term. Students will still be expected to pay the corresponding UTMCIP Program Fees during this time.

UTMCIP students are eligible to apply for OSAP while completing their Work Term. For more information, please contact a Financial Aid Advisor in the Office of the Registrar with any questions related to OSAP.

UTMCIP Program Fees are applied under ancillary fees on student accounts. Some scholarships may cover ancillary fees. Please consult the terms of your scholarship offer and/or speak with a Scholarships & Awards Officer in the Office of the Registrar to confirm.

UTMCIP fees are posted to a student’s financial account in ACORN at the beginning of each academic term.  The UTMCIP Module fee is viewable on your financial invoice under the applicable term alongside tuition, incidental, and ancillary fees.