Awards
At Laurier, we recognize the success of our co-op students with awards such as the Co-op Student of the Year Award.
In addition, we also provide funding opportunities through award programs such as the Menich and AUS Awards.
Co-op Student of the Year Award
The Co-op Student of the Year is awarded each year to a student who has performed exceptionally well during their co-op work term, has strong academics, is involved in the Laurier community, and is in good standing with the co-op program.
Co-op students are nominated for the award by their employers. If you’ve made outstanding contributions to your co-op employer, it’s possible they may nominate you for the Co-op Student of the Year Award. All employers will receive an invitation and are encouraged to nominate student(s) at the end of the student’s work term, with a yearly final deadline to nominate near the end of the calendar year. Eligible nominated students will be notified by the co-op office and will be provided with a supplementary form to complete and submit to be considered for the award. The co-op office adjudicates the nominees and announces the Co-op Student of the Year in March to align with CEWIL’s National Co-op & WIL Month.
Read about Chantal Vaillancourt, a previous Co-op Student of the Year Award recipient.
Click below to see the Co-op Student of Year Award recipients and nominees!
2024 Co-op Student of the Year: Jozef Magolon, Boston Consulting Group
Nominees:
- Joshua Durham, Scotiabank
- Adam Izumi, Deloitte Inc.
- Adam Liehs, Blue Link ERP
- Ahmer Syed, FGF Brands Inc
- Aidan Hymus, BMO Capital Markets
- Aum Mohamed, KW Walk-In Clinic
- Ben Baker, Nokia
- Cassandra Howse, Liberty Mutual Canada
- Charles Dyer, Canada Development Investment Corporation
- Christopher Pierro, BMO Financial Group
- Dylan Ridout, CI Global Asset Management
- Ethan Klass, Rexel Canada
- Gabriel Karolidis, Musashi AI North America Inc
- Jashan Dhir, Scotiabank
- Jenish Bharucha, Pro Funds Mortgages
- Jonathan Gagnon, University Pension Plan
- Jonathan Wang, Nicoya Lifesciences Inc.
- Joseph Choi, Samsung Electronics Canada
- Jozef Magolon, Boston Consulting Group
- Julia Powell, Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd
- Justin Moffatt, Deloitte
- Katelyn Stapleton, AIG Canada
- Kaushal Subramani, Intact Green Services Pvt Ltd
- Kevin Liu, Fig Financial
- Liam Sheikh, Greybrook
- Maria Khan, Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials
- Mikel Osei-Owusu, Securian Canada
- Milica Mijalkovic, Canada Infrastructure Bank
- Paavan Patel, The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Reinsurance (Barbados) Inc.)
- Rachel Uguccioni, Allianz Global Assistance Canada
- Rushil Deep, Bell Canada
- Salil Khasnobish, Scotiabank
- Thea Wilton, Bank of Montreal
- Xuhan Huang, BDO Canada Limited
- Yujun (Fiona) Chen, RBC Royal Bank
- Zaina Besaiso, Crania Schools
2023 Co-op Student of the Year: Chantal Vaillancourt, Simplii Financial
Nominees:
- Brett Allen, Brubacher Roofing Systems
- Ryan Antiochos, IBM
- Nimrah Arain, Kritik Education
- Aparna Chordia, Isaac Operations
- Maxwell Dann, Manulife
- Lauren Di Iulio, Alzheimer Society Peel
- Sivan Dubinsky, OMERS
- Kailey Foster, Pure Flavor
- Sydney Gibson, Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure
- Emma Grierson, Richardson Wealth
- Chase Jankovic, ATS
- Hana Kidwai, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry / Lands and Resources I&IT Cluster
- Shaelynn Knowles, Segal GCSE LLP
- Anastasia Korbut, Lillio (Formerly HiMama)
- Anastasia Korbut, Mondelez Canada
- Christopher Lahn, Tino-Gaetani & Carusi
- Emily Loberto, Plum
- Oliver Neish, Equitable Live
- Ayush Patel, CIBC
- Colton Porchak, Enova Power Corp.
- Kate Price, Deloitte
- Christian Reichenbach, Scotiabank (Winter 2023)
- Christian Reichenbach, Scotiabank (Fall 2023)
- Hayden Steer, Liberty Utilities
- Caitlin Szucs, Royal Canin Canada
- Olivia Tiessen, Framework Venture Partners
- Hannah Vosper, RBC Capital Markets
- Carter Wong, Definity Financial Corporation
2022 Co-op Student of the Year: Fatima Khan, Ontario Digital Service
Nominees:
- Alpha Diallo, Roctel Manufacturing/Linamar Corporation
- Amanda Sousa, HTS Engineering Ltd.
- Benjamin Allen, Deloitte
- Ciarra Collison, Boston Consulting Group
- Connor Wong, Temple Insurance Company/Munich Reinsurance
- Cullen Lin, Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
- Dante Di Biase, BlueCat Networks
- Dylan Randall, McCormick Canada
- Elise VanderWindt, Tucows
- Eric Martin, Munich Reinsurance
- Gil Shapero, Wilfrid Laurier University, Sustainability Office
- Gil Shapero, FuelPositive Corporation
- Gleb Zakharov, Magnet Forensics
- Hassan El-Essawi, Burgundy Asset Management
- Jessica Li, Magna International
- Jordanna Kofsky, American Express
- Juan Gomez, HubHead
- Kavitha Kunku, Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery
- Kayla Pyke, Saturn Power
- Kieffer Beard, Kroll Canada
- Krisha Patel, TD Securities
- Kylie Kinnear, The Clorox Company of Canada
- Matthew Civello, Integral Wealth Securities Limited
- Max Care, Statistics Canada
- Megan Roberts, City of Kitchener
- Melissa Kallianos, D2L
- Myisha Chaudhry, Scotiabank
- Nataly Shklyarman, American Express
- Qiming Huang, Protobrand
- Radiyyah Karodia, Connex Health Consulting
- Roman Zaslavets, Deloitte
- Sameer Pujji, Scotiabank
- Samuel Taylor, Clarity Marketing & Design
- Shailesh Suresh, HTS Engineering Ltd.
- Shivani Ramesh, CORA Group
- Tamara Djuknic, Bandology
- Timotheos Zangoulos, Odyssey Consultants
- Victoria Small, Mars Canada
- William Metcalfe, Peekapak
2021 Co-op Student of the Year: Sophie Ziomecki, American Express
Nominees:
- Andrew Russo, City of Kitchener
- Emily Drummond, Canada Life
- Murray Perryman, Taylormade
- Natasha Kasunic, Kritik
- Nick Lash, Unilever
- Penny Liu, Laurier, Health Sciences
- Simrat Barring, AutoTrader.ca
- Trenton Whillans, Laurier, Information and Communication Technologies
2020 Co-op Student of the Year: Erika Draskovic, Deloitte
Nominees:
- Aaron Weigel, Sun Life Financial
- Andrea Matthews, Crawford Technologies Inc.
- Arjun Ananth, CIBC
- Benjamin Keunen, Hospital for Sick Children
- Brandon Kirton, Give and Go Prepared Foods
- Brent Parobec, Litens Automotive Partnership
- Briar Sneek, Philips Canada
- Celine Ngo, Give and Go Prepared Foods
- Chris DeGuzman, Bank of Montreal
- Emily Leistner, Canadian Tire Bank
- Eric Yam, Ontario Ministry of Finance, Income Security Policy Unit
- Eryn Young, CIBC
- Giorgia Garner, Sunlife Financial
- Hanna Roglic, SodaStream Canada
- Hannah Spuires, American Express Canada
- Jacob Legault, BDO Canada LLP
- Jayden Robins, Manulife
- Jenna Gibel, Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA)
- Jeremy Simmons, Investor Economics
- Kendra Philips, Fundscraper Capital Inc.
- Kyle Cygelfarb, Smucker Foods of Canada
- Liam Schillaci, CI Global Asset Management
- Martha Bitew, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development Job Creation and Trade
- Matthew Jacobs, Berkis LLP
- Michael Greenberg, Grand Toy
- Morgenne Besenschek, The Co-operators
- Serena Rawana , JAM Direct
- Sydney Frigerio, Hauskey Inc.
- Tiffany Williams, BDO Canada LLP
2019 Co-op Student of the Year: Tyler Donaldson, Ontario Power Generation; Benjamin Keunen, Hospital for Sick Children
Nominees:
- Isabelle Akdeniz, Deloitte
- Christopher Campbell, Deloitte
- Tiffany Chan, Kritik
- Alexander Clayton Pezzarello, CBRE Caledon Capital Management
- Kevin Corrigan, Auvik Networks Inc.
- Luke Di Giulio, Freshii
- Alexandra (Sasha) Jidkina, Conagra
- Takara Jones, Parkwood Suites
- Benjamin Keunen, SickKids Foundation
- Yunije (Stella) Luo, Parmalat Canada
- Romane Ng Yung Kiat, Blue Link Associates Limited
- Cassandra Pike, Hatch
- Mithusha Pratheepan, Saint Elizabeth Healthcare
- Sofija Radenovic, The Minto Group
- Hannah Squires, American Express (AMEX)
- Courtney Tran, M&M Food Market
- Nicholas Weicker, Everest Reinsurance Company
- Natalie Zammit, AIG American International Group Inc.
Menich and AUS Awards
If you are an Arts Co-op or Science Co-op student, you can apply for the Menich and AUS Awards for the chance to receive funding to work for a non-profit employer.
Watch Psychology major Hannah Wyatt, who received the Menich Award in 2022, speak about her co-op role at Lutherwood Children's Mental Health Centre.
Hear from Renee Lawson, the 2021 recipient of the Menich Award, and her impactful co-op experience at HopeSpring, a cancer support centre.
Apply for the Award
To apply, write an application essay due in the fall. The grants will be awarded in December for students who are seeking employment for the spring work term.
Upon receiving the grant, you will approach non-profit organizations and offer funded support for your work.
For more information about the application process, contact your co-op consultant.
- Recreation facilitator
- Communications assistant
- Settlement program assistant
- Recreational support person
- Training coordinator
- Autism respite worker
- Mental health clinic assistant
- HopeSpring Cancer Support Centre, Waterloo
- K-W Habilitation
- Luther Village in the Park
- Lutherwood (Benjamin Rd. Mental Health Site)
- KW AccessAbility
- The Working Centre/St. John’s Kitchen, Kitchener
- KW Multicultural Centre, Kitchener
- House of Friendship
- Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region
- United Way Waterloo Region Communities