So I know UofT and Waterloo release info on salry info for Co-op students by stream. Where can I access this info for McMaster?

It depends which faculty you're in. I don't recall seeing it on the science careers info website, but you can take a look if you want: http://www.science.mcmaster. ca/scc...am-information

The only place I remember them giving us salary information was at a co-op info session they held around December/January (they had multiple dates). It was broken down by which work term you're on (how much experience you have) and what sector you're working in (academic, industry, private). If you can't find it on their website, send them an email

If you're not in science, then try your faculty's careers website.

I don't think they have averages (I could be wrong though, since I did co-op a while ago)... nor does Mac make employers pay students at a certain wage. For bio, I think the range was around $11 - 22/hour...

im not sure exactly about this but when i did the co-op course for engineering the instructor said that for engineering co-op the average wage was around $27/hour

27 sounds kind of high, unless we're talking 3rd or 4th year level co-ops only.

Overall, something around 20 sounds more reasonable.

i dunno that's what the guy said just relaying the message, he said that companies like RIM IBM and hydro one were paying good money for engineering students to work on co-op and internships and then said that on average they were making 27 bucks per hour.

Originally Posted by HaXoRZ

i dunno that's what the guy said just relaying the message, he said that companies like RIM IBM and hydro one were paying good money for engineering students to work on co-op and internships and then said that on average they were making 27 bucks per hour.

27 is a bit high, especially in this kind of economic environment. A lot of new grads don't even make that much right now.

I'm making low 20s and it's among the highest of the people i know who did coop.

Thanks guys. I should have mentioned I was referring to engineering .


I found this " For the year 2009, students were paid in a range from $15-25/hr. The average wage for senior level students was $19/hr"

But I was hoping for a stream breakdown

Originally Posted by HaXoRZ

i dunno that's what the guy said just relaying the message, he said that companies like RIM IBM and hydro one were paying good money for engineering students to work on co-op and internships and then said that on average they were making 27 bucks per hour.

That wouldn't surprise me. But RIM, IBM, and Hydro One are only three companies that pay above average, out of many. I just got a Hydro One Internship for this September and let me tell you, I'm getting more than 27

Originally Posted by MacPack

Thanks guys. I should have mentioned I was referring to engineering .


I found this " For the year 2009, students were paid in a range from $15-25/hr. The average wage for senior level students was $19/hr"

But I was hoping for a stream breakdown

You probably aren't going to find THAT much variability for co-op jobs across different fields. There will be bigger differences based on what company is hiring you. 15 to 25 an hour with an average of 19 sounds spot on.

Winning the lotto max is everything, who needs co-op.

Originally Posted by Bobby66

Winning the lotto max is everything, who needs co-op.

This weekends draw was 50 million...

You shouldn't be caring about coop salaries in the first place. You are not some big shot executive who can leverage in any sort of negotiations. Attempting to get a higher salary for a coop position is just downright disrespectful.

You should be grateful to be actually getting real work experience before graduating.

And just a note: Average salary would be around $12 - 17/hr depending on year. Really high salaries are by power utility companies in engineering like OPG and Hyrdo. When I interviewed with them, they said they would pay $24.50/hr. From just rumor (and I am fuzzy on the details), this is because they get additional subsidy from the government.

Originally Posted by thompson

You shouldn't be caring about coop salaries in the first place. You are not some big shot executive who can leverage in any sort of negotiations. Attempting to get a higher salary for a coop position is just downright disrespectful.

You should be grateful to be actually getting real work experience before graduating.

And just a note: Average salary would be around $12 - 17/hr depending on year. Really high salaries are by power utility companies in engineering like OPG and Hyrdo. When I interviewed with them, they said they would pay $24.50/hr. From just rumor (and I am fuzzy on the details), this is because they get additional subsidy from the government.

I don'th think there is anything wrong with knowing the co-op salary. Not everyone can afford for their parents to pay their rent or for their school education so to make moving or choosing placement feasable one would like to know the range to which they are going to get paid.