Send Student Appointment Form, completed and signed by you and your supervisor, to StudentEmployment@viu.ca before starting work. This form can be completed on your first work day. Please note that forms sent in without all the required signatures and information, including Work Order numbers, cannot be processed and could result in delayed pay for the student. 

Because this is the only form required by the Campus Employment office please do not wait for Payroll documents to be ready before sending it in.

Please go to Payroll Forms for Federal and Provincial Tax Credit & direct deposit forms. International Students should include a copy of a valid Study Permit. Please email them directly to Payroll@viu.ca without copying student employment.

Approved time-sheets signed by you and your supervisor should also be emailed to Payroll. They are generally due weekly on Thursdays, but sometimes change, so please go to Payroll to see the timesheet schedule. If you are working at VIU for the first time and don't know your employee number, please do not submit timesheets without it. Notification sent out when computer/email accounts are generated will include the number, so Payroll asks that you please wait for that notification and note it on the timesheet.

Wage Reimbursement

Work-Op is a fund managed through the Student Employment office to provide campus jobs to enrolled VIU students. Applications are open twice a year – once for the summer semester and again for the Fall and Spring together. Applications are approved in 50-hour blocks and reimbursed at minimum wage plus 12% for mandatory employer costs.

Note: Students are allowed only one Work-op position per semester except in special circumstances. All exceptions to eligibility or to the number of positions must have approval from the Student Employment office.

Fall 2022/Spring 2023 Dates, Deadlines, and Details

The schedule below provides an overview of the Fall 2022 - Spring 2023 Work-Op Program.

Fall/Spring Work-Op Period: September 6, 2022 to April 26, 2023

Position Availability: Starting Monday, August 12. Positions will be available on CareerVIU and the CCR Opportunity Directory

Final Timesheet Deadline: May 4, 2023 is the last date for submitting timesheets to be eligible for reimbursement.

Rate of Pay and Reimbursement: The hourly base rate for Work-Op positions is $15.65 per hour (BC minimum wage) plus all statutory entitlements. Departments intending to recognize higher demands or skill-specific qualifications required by the nature of the responsibilities in their approved position may supplement the base rate of pay with departmental funds. The department will be responsible for both hourly top-up and employer related costs associated with that increase (12% of hourly increase above base).

The number of hours your position has been approved for can be found in your approval email. These hours can be spread out between the two semesters and/or between students at your discretion within the allowed dates. Supervisors are responsible for tracking the number of hours worked and ensuring that timesheets are sent to payroll weekly. The Work-Op Program will not reimburse any timesheets that were submitted after the May 4, 2023 final timesheet deadline or for hours worked outside the Work-Op timelines.  Please see the tracking sheet that is found in the form section above.

Department or Grant Funded

Non Work-Op covers all other campus work for VIU students, paid entirely out of departmental work orders. Students must meet our eligibility requirements to qualify for student positions and must be paid minimum wage or higher. Research Assistant positions that are paid bi-weekly (salary) or by submitted timesheets are Non Work-Op and processed through the Student Employment office. Please contact srca@viu.ca for payment processes of trainee awards or stipends.

Note: If a student’s course ends mid-semester, they are permitted to work up until the last day of that month.

Government Funded

The Canada Summer Jobs program provides funding to help provide career-related work experience for youth aged 15 to 30 years old. A call for applications goes out every year, usually in January, and the Student Employment office submits an application on behalf of anyone interested in applying for funding. Once our office is notified of approval, we work with the applicants to process the appointments, ensuring that the details are in line with our funding agreement, then submit a claim form and distribute the reimbursement amounts appropriately.

Information for 2023 Applicants

• Canada Summer Jobs will reimburse at 50% of minimum wage. As of June 1, 2022, this was $15.65/hour. The reimbursement should be received in November or December, so you’ll need to cover the full wage until then
• Students should not start working until you receive notification from this office regardless of their stated earliest start date or the projected start date you put on your application. May 1st is the earliest start date you should plan for
• Canada Summer Jobs does not allow you to end an existing appointment that is paid with VIU money to switch to a CSJ position
• In the past few years CSJ has consistently approved eight weeks per position. You will be expected to use all the weeks they approve; if for some reason you can’t, I’ll need to request a modification of the agreement so be sure to let me know
• You are encouraged to hire students for longer than their approved weeks, but you won’t be reimbursed for the extra
• Students are only allowed one CSJ position. Please be sure to clarify this with your student or feel free to check with me before offering the position.
• It is very important that you treat this application as a commitment to use the funds. This helps to ensure we remain in good standing for future years’ applications.

Information from Summer 2023 Call for Proposals

This is a wage subsidy program for students between the ages of 15 and 30

• The wage subsidy reimburses up to a maximum of 50% of minimum wage – currently $15.65/hour
• Students must be hired full time – between 30 and 35 hours per week for 6 – 16 consecutive weeks. Details of your approved number of hours and weeks will be in your approval email
• The earliest allowed start date is April 24, 2023, but it is recommended that you plan to start a week or two later to allow time to receive approval. The latest start date is July 24th and all hours must be completed by September 2nd
• Please consider an application for funding to be a commitment to go forward with your project if approved. Current CSJ rules do not allow unused positions/hours to be transferred to other approved jobs so not using too much of what we requested might affect future funding

Please email completed Application Information Form  to studentemployment@viu.ca by Friday, January 6th at 11:59 p.m.

Application Information Form and Instructions

Applicant Guide 2023

April 24: Official first day that students can start work. This date is subject to change if approval has not yet been received. You'll be notified when the approvals come in.

July 24: Last day that students can start work

September 2: All hours must be completed

March 31:  Year-End Reimbursement to be transferred shortly after this Pay-date

April 26:  Last Day of the Fall/Spring Work-Op period

May 4: Final Timesheet Deadline. Timesheets submitted after this date will not be eligible for reimbursement

May 1 to August 31: Summer Work-Op period (note change in dates)

March 13:  Call-out email goes out

April 4:  Application deadline

April 17:  Approval emails sent out. 

April 17:  Positions go live on CareerVIU if requested

September 7:  Timesheet deadline

September 1 to April 30: Fall/Spring Work-Op period (note change in dates)

May 31: Call-Out email goes out

June 12: Application deadline

July 17: Approval emails sent out

August 11: Postings go live on CareerVIU

Watch for the call-out emails every Spring then follow the instructions to log into CareerVIU and post your job by the stated deadlines. You will also need to submit an Application Approval form by the same deadline and we will let you know within a few weeks if you were approved for any or all of the positions requested.

Starting in Summer 2023, the Work-Op dates will cover full months, rather than the previous formula (first day of a semester to the last day of final exams). This mean that the Summer Work-Op period will now always be May 1st to August 31st. The Fall/Spring Work-Op period will now be September 1st to April 30th.

Fall/Spring hours can be worked any time between the first day of September and the last day of April; Summer hours can only be used in the Summer.

Yes. You will receive notification of the number of hours you were approved for and these hours can be divided between your hired students as you like.

Yes, you can hire as many students as you like, as long as they meet the Eligibility Requirements. You will be reimbursed for the number of eligible hours worked between all students hired for a position.

No, they can definitely work more. Check your approval email to see how many hours that will be funded and consider using the Tracking Sheet above to monitor students' hours.

Yes, and we encourage it wherever possible.

Minimum wage is currently $15.65/hour, increasing to $16.75 on June 1, 2023. Reimbursement for hours worked is based on the minimum wage rate on the day of work. We also add 12% to the reimbursement to cover other employment costs, like vacation pay, etc.

Fall/Spring Work-Op period: after each semester ends plus an additional one before year-end.

Summer: one reimbursement after the semester ends.

Fall and Spring semesters: students need to be enrolled full-time at VIU, i.e. three 3-credit courses, or two Academic and Career Prep or ESL courses, but students with documented disabilities are eligible with only six credits.

Summer semester:  students need to be enrolled in one 3-credit course, or one ACP or ESL course.

International students: must meet all the eligibility requirements noted above but must also have a valid Study Permit or have an acknowledgement letter that indicates they have applied to renew their permit prior to its expiration date.

Students are not allowed to work in more than one Work-Op position, but they can also have a Non Work-Op position at the same time.

You need to create a posting as part of the application for funding, but there is a place on the posting form where you indicate whether you want the posting made visible to students. If you already have a student you want to hire you can just answer no to this question.

As of Fall 2021, all approved Work-Op positions have been added to the Co-Curricular Record Opportunity Directory. If you are in a  Non Work-Op or Canada Summer Jobs position and are looking for your involvement to be recognized, please email CCR@viu.ca for more information.

As of Fall 2021, all approved Work-Op positions have been added to the Co-Curricular Record Opportunity Directory. If you have received approval for your Work-Op position, as a VIU Faculty/Staff you will now be considered as the position Validator. As a Validator, you will be responsible to approve the students' reflection based upon their selected VIU Graduate Attributes. The Co-Curricular Record team will be in touch with all Validator's with more information and details. Thank you!