MLA Bailey says students at Vancouver post-secondary institutes will benefit from more co-op and work-integrated learning opportunities

VANCOUVER – New Democrat MLA Brenda Bailey says students at post-secondary institutes across Vancouver will have greater access to valuable learning opportunities with new co-op and work-integrated learning (WIL) funding.

“Post-secondary education can open doors and lead to a rewarding career, especially when students get the chance to gain hands-on experience,” said Brenda Bailey, MLA for Vancouver-False Creek. “With co-ops and work-integrated learning in such high demand, our government’s investment will support more students and increase the number of opportunities available to them as they plan their career paths.”

Vancouver post-secondary institutions will receive to support for the following programs:

Emily Carr University of Art + Design:

  • Create WIL placements for 30 students to work with employers in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats and Downtown Eastside, including 12-week field placements.
  • Create WIL placements for 40 students in 12-week experiences with an annual photography festival and a virtual printmaking company.
  • Create WIL placements for students with the Anti-Racism and Cultural Redress Team at the City of Vancouver to develop public education resources to support the city’s anti-racism and reconciliation plans.

Langara College:

  • Build on current work to create 100 WIL placements in various program areas, with a focus on creating new placements for students with disabilities, helping instructors incorporate WIL into their courses, and expanding the network of employers and supports for employers.

University of British Columbia:

  • Build a non-STEM stream for the Canada-Japan Co-op program.
  • Create 100 WIL opportunities for UBC Arts students, including with small and medium businesses and non-profit organizations.
  • Hire two co-ordinators, one each at UBC and UBC-Okanagan, to support Indigenous students in the arts, engineering and interdisciplinary co-op programs.
  • Hire an employment, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) co-ordinator to increase overall intake of arts students into the program, and to provide resources and better supports for students from EDI backgrounds in securing work terms.
  • Develop workshops through the UBC Centre for Community Engaged Learning that will help students acquire skills and knowledge to prepare them for 150 to 200 service-learning placements with community-based organizations in 2021-22.
  • Create 100 new community field experience placements in rural and remote areas for students completing the UBC Teacher Education Program, to recover from impacts of COVID-19, and to address the continual talent drain of teachers outside urban areas.
  • Improve practicum success rate of students in UBC’s Indigenous Teacher Education Program through professional development resources, practicum preparation curriculum, and a reciprocal mentoring network.
  • Expand existing program that creates WIL placements by matching UBC students with partner organizations to work on applied research projects that advance sustainability in the region.
  • Establish a new co-op program related to the wine industry.

Vancouver Community College:

  • Recruit new employers, particularly small and medium businesses and non-profit organizations, to restore WIL placements in certificate and diploma programs that were lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Partners include Surrey Board of Trade and local non-profit organizations serving newcomers.

This one-time funding will expand co-op and work-integrated learning programs, and focus on placements in sectors impacted by the pandemic. In total, 47 projects are being funded at all 25 public post-secondary institutions in B.C, creating up to 3,000 new co-op and work-integrated learning placements for students.

Investing in an economy that works for everyone is part of the New Democrat government’s plan to build back a stronger B.C.

Learn More: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021AEST0077-002292