Hospitality & Cooperative Education

Hospitality Management students are included in the Coop Education program. This program enables students to have full-time, paid career related employment while studying at VIU.

The Coop Education program can place students in work that will enhance classroom learning and provide the hands-on training that is a required element of our program.

Co-op Education is a co-operative education effort between Hospitality Industry employers and Vancouver Island University. As a six-semester, two-year diploma program spanning 28 months, VIU delivers four on-campus semesters including the first two in the first year, with alternating semesters between industry and VIU for the remainder of the program.

Our mission is to break the "no experience without a job, no job without experience" loop. Our program can match you with meaningful work in your field during your time at VIU. Co-op Education offers full-time, paid, career-related employment to enhance your full-time study experience.

We have developed successful relationships between employers and students that have been extremely rewarding for both. These Co-op Education partners conduct annual on-campus presentations and interviews so that our students have plenty of employment opportunities with minimal travel and inconvenience. Our primary Hospitality Industry employers are Fairmont Hotels (formerly CP Hotels) and Delta Hotels in B.C. and Alberta, the Rimrock Hotel of Banff, and Banff Centre. The mountain properties of the Canadian Rockies and Whistler-Blackcomb offer a wonderful combination of staff accommodation, high volume business, and of course fun and high-quality paid work experiences from modern and progressive-minded management teams.