A report by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) suggests students are graduating with the necessary skills for their careers thanks to applied learning programs such as co-ops and internships.
The report, “Bringing Life to Learning at Ontario Universities,” stated that work-integrated learning programs span a variety of disciplines from environmental science to fine arts, engineering, and health sciences.
It found that due to increasingly competitive job markets, internships and co-ops make students more workplace-ready when they graduate. Since employers often require a certain amount of experience, applied learning is able to help students for that reason, the report stated.
It also cited Statistics Canada’s recent National Graduates Survey, which showed that graduates with both a bachelor’s degree and co-op experience tend to earn more than their peers, have higher full-time employment rates, and are more likely to pay off their debt within two years.
The overarching goal of the study was to demonstrate “the breadth of experiential learning opportunities that are available at our universities,” according to COU president and CEO Bonnie Patterson.
Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Brad Duguid said Ontario is unrivalled in the world in terms of the opportunities it offers students in experiential learning. He said more opportunities should be created.
“Our government recognizes that experiential learning courses help our students develop the valuable practical skills that many employers are seeking for our 21st century global economy,” he said in a press release.
Josh Mandryk, co-chair of Students Against Unpaid Internship Scams, said these programs can be unfair to students.
“Not all internship are created equally and we have serious concerns about the broad exclusion from minimum wage for any and all internships through post-secondary programs,” Mandryk said. “We believe the Ontario government needs to narrow this overly broad exclusion in order to ensure that co-ops and academic internships are more than just a source of free labour.”
The Ontario Ministry of Labour recently cracked down on some unpaid internship programs. It issued compliance orders to the Walrus and Toronto Life magazines March 27 to immediately end their unpaid internship programs after complaints about unfair labour practices.
The ministry determined these unpaid internships violated the Employment Standards Act. Mandryk said this crackdown was a positive step in the right direction.
“Unpaid internship scams are displacing paid employment and it’s critically important that the Ontario government proactively enforces the law,” he said.
But Patterson said COU doesn’t see any downfalls to co-op and internship programs.
“Students have a short-term opportunity to gain real-world experience,” she said. “There are of course students who take these programs and realize the career they’re aspiring to is not the right fit. Even for these students, this can be an important learning experience that reveals a great deal about one’s preferences, potential, and provides the opportunity to switch gears and try something different.”
