Placements
Placement is a broad term encompassing various forms of experiential learning. Placements enable students to apply classroom knowledge in a workplace setting with a partner organization that directly supervises their work. Placements are part of a student’s academic program, and should integrate theory and practice through meaningful, hands-on experience.
Common types of placements include academic internships, professional practicums (including clinical placements), co-op / professional work-terms, and some forms of community-engaged learning and field experiences. Please note that volunteer opportunities, observerships, and field trips are not considered placements.
Paid vs. Unpaid Placements
Paid Placements: If a student is hired and paid wages as an employee of the host organization, the arrangement is treated as employment relationship between the student and the organization. The employer is responsible for providing the employment contract and any other required employment documentation. Co-op is a common type of paid placement.
Unpaid Placements: If a student receives no wages or receives a form of non-wage payment (including stipends, honorariums, awards, or reimbursements), the arrangement falls within the parameters of an unpaid placement. As unpaid placements are part of students’ academic program, these opportunities directly contribute to students’ degree completion, either via course credit or by completing program requirements. In order for a student to participate in an unpaid placement, a Student Placement Agreement is required.
Student Placement Agreements
A Student Placement Agreement is required for curricular-partnered experiential learning opportunities which are unpaid, are part of students’ academic program, and which involve the external partner directly supervising students’ work and activities.
A Student Placement Agreement is a legal document that outlines the roles and responsibilities of the University, the placement site, and any student undertaking a placement with the site. It also helps confirm that required insurance coverage (such as WSIB coverage through the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security), is in place for the placement.
Course-based activities involving an external partner (such as organization partnered projects, case studies, guest speakers, or site visits) do not require a Student Placement Agreement, as the student’s work is not supervised by the partner.
Unpaid Placements Workspace
The Unpaid Placements Workspace is the University’s institutional repository for unpaid placement agreements and addenda, and provides guidance to help academic divisions align their administrative processes with relevant legislation, policy, and procedures related to unpaid placements. It also offers robust search functionality, greater data integrity, visibility into relationship history with placement sites, and extensive FAQs and how-to resources to support placements-related work. Access to the Workspace is limited to staff and faculty supporting student placements, and requires training and enrollment to get started.
The Workspace has been jointly developed by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students and the Office of the Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning (OVPTL), replacing the former Placement Portal, and represents the first phase of a broader OVPTL initiative to develop a Partnered Experiential Learning Portal (PELP). PELP will consolidate internal-facing information and resources related to curricular, partnered experiential learning at U of T, and will be open to U of T staff and faculty members.
Key Contacts
To gain access to the Workspace, please review the access requirements and utilize the Access Request form. Information about Workspace access as well as placements-related documentation, insurance, and injury has been detailed in the FAQ (below).
Unpaid Placements: For placement-related and Unpaid Placements Workspace questions, please contact placements@utoronto.ca. This mailbox serves as the institutional point of contact for placement-agreement questions, Workspace-related inquiries, and can route requests to the appropriate University partners.
Other forms of curricular experiential learning: The Office of the Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning can offer guidance in terms of curricular experiential learning more broadly, and can be contacted at el.vptl@utoronto.ca. You can also visit the Experiential Learning Hub to learn more about additional guidelines and procedures related to experiential learning at U of T.
Unit-level support: Some placement-related or curricular-partnered experiential learning questions may also be supported by divisional or departmental experiential learning offices or staff members, who may be better positioned to share information about internal processes within a local context.