What’s the difference between an intern and a co-op student?

Although people often group interns and co-op students together, there are subtle differences between the two. An internship tends to be a brief period of time, typically one semester or over the summer. Students may participate in multiple internships throughout their studies to get a feel for what field they enjoy.

However, a co-op typically lasts for a longer time, as practical work experience is only a portion of cooperative education. Students in a co-op program may have in-classroom education and then apply it to the workplace with a co-op opportunity.

The main difference for businesses is that co-ops are typically full-time paid positions, while internships may be paid or unpaid and full-time or part-time.

What do interns and co-op students do?

Interns and co-op students can work in a number of fields depending on what they’re interested in or what program they’re taking in school. Here are some of the most popular fields for internships and co-ops:

• Engineering
• Marketing
• Business operations
• Sales
• Finance
• Marketing
• IT
• Human resources
• Education
• Health care
• Arts and design

The specific role of co-ops and interns in your business will probably depend on what field they are working in, but interns and co-op students tend to play a support role in the workplace. It’s your choice what roles and responsibilities you want to assign to your intern or co-op student, but just remember that they are there to learn.

Benefits of hiring co-op students and interns

As internships and co-op programs are a learning opportunity for the student, some companies may believe that hiring one is not beneficial for their business. However, there are many potential benefits to hiring one. Here are some of the benefits you could gain by hiring co-op students and interns:

• Interns and co-op students could work on for short-term projects. It can be tough to hire an employee to work for only a few months when your workload is high, but interns and co-op students could help bridge that gap.
• Interns and co-op students often rely on the work experience and receiving a good reference from you, so they will probably be eager to learn and help however they can.
• You may even find a future employee in an intern or co-op student. Even though they will temporarily be with you, you could hire an intern or co-op student you liked when they finish their program. This could save you time in looking for and training a new employee.
• Hiring an intern or co-op student could be a great way to save money as well, as many positions are unpaid or are paid less than typical employees.
• Working with local schools to give their students practical experience is also a way of building your company’s reputation.

In addition to all the potential benefits of hiring an intern or co-op student mentioned above, companies could also receive funding for doing so. Different provinces in Canada have different funding options. For example, in Ontario, you may qualify for the Co-operative Education Tax Credit (CETC), where you can claim 25% to 30% of eligible expenditures for each co-op student. Another great example is the Innovative BC Tech Co-op Grants Program (TGCP) in British Columbia, which allows companies to receive grants of up to $20,000 a year to hire co-op students.

Tips for hiring interns or co-op students

Here are some tips for hiring interns and co-op students:

Don’t focus too much on the interview

While interviews are a great way to get to know potential employees, it’s not the best method for interns and co-op students. Meeting with you is probably one of the first work experiences students will have, so they won’t have any experience with interviews. Giving them a traditional interview where they’ll have to discuss work experience they don’t have will likely make them nervous and might make them seem incompetent. Focusing on situation-based questions or an assessment instead will give you a better idea of the student’s ability.

Offer a paid internship or co-op

Students who are not being paid for their time might not be as committed to their work. Similarly, students who have bills or other expenses to manage likely won’t have the time to work for free, so you could be losing your chance to hire a star intern or co-op student if you don’t offer to fund them.

Be clear about the opportunity you’re offering the intern or co-op student

When you meet with them, outline what your expectations are and what role they will have. This ensures that you are both on the same page, and the student can choose whether it’s an opportunity that will suit them beforehand.

Advertise your willingness to hire an intern or co-op student

Students won’t know about the opportunity if you aren’t promoting it. Online job boards are one place where you could post internships, as long as you’re clear that it’s an internship position and not full-time employment. For co-op students, the staff at high schools, colleges, and universities usually reach out to businesses to see whether they’re interested in hosting co-op students. You would then be part of a roster that students can peruse and reach out to you through. If schools haven’t contacted you, you could email or call them to express your interest.

Emphasize the benefits you can offer

Although interns and co-op students likely won’t be receiving traditional work benefits, such as health insurance, there are plenty of others you can offer. If your company offers events like recreation days, company barbecues or happy hours, you could let your intern or co-op student know that the company would invite them. This will help students feel part of the team and make them excited to work with you.

Be honest about their future with the company

Some interns or co-op students only want to work for a company they can have a future with. Internships and co-ops are a great way to build connections for future careers, so some students may not want to intern or do their co-op with you if you can’t offer a position in the future. Let students know whether they could have a future at with your company and whether you’ll be able to offer them future opportunities after they complete their internship or co-op.

What employers need to know about paying interns and co-op students

In Canada, businesses legally do not need to pay interns and co-op students for their activities as the Canada Labour Code does not consider it work. However, you could choose to give interns and co-op students a stipend, monthly allowance, or reimbursement for expenses at your discretion.

Although interns do not have the right to receive payment, they are protected under Part III of the Canada Labour Code. The rights the code entitles them to include standard hours of work, breaks, a notice of shift changes, time off for holidays and leaves of absence.