Highlights –

  • Wavemaker is a work-integrated initiative that will use virtual reality to connect diverse post-secondary students with leading employers across Canada.
  • The program is first-of-its-kind in Canada and is set to benefit more than 1,000 post-secondary students.
  • The program will help the students know about various industry leaders from across multiple sectors so that they can decide on a better future.

Canadian post-secondary students who have been facing difficulties in learning will soon benefit from meaningful work-integrated learning experiences from industry experts on a virtual campus.

Wavemakers, a work-integrated learning program, in part supported by the Government of Canada, is designed to connect diverse post-secondary students with leading employers across Canada. The program brings together cutting-edge technologies, world-class experts, and critical employer networks so that students are can make a move towards a brighter future. The scheme will ease the learning process and offer flexibility to students to work from any corner of the globe. In comparison to traditional programs, virtual learning will help the students stay engaged; they can even connect with employers from across the world.

Wavemakers has given post-secondary college students in Canada a chance to take a step toward an extra various and inclusive future by leveraging modern know-how, revolutionary curriculum, and trade experience.

It is expected that close to 1,000 post-secondary students from underrepresented communities (Black, First Nations, Inuit, Metis, LGBTQ2S, neurodiverse students, students with disabilities, rural and remote students, and women) will take part in the program.

This is an Innovative Work-Integrated Learning (I-WIL) Initiative work program that will benefit post-secondary students to develop upon newer opportunities related to their studies. I-WIL is known to concentrate more on short and intensive technology-based activities.

In this eight-week program, students will receive enlightenment from industry leaders about the technologies and mindsets required to thrive in the future of work.

Comments from experts’

“We’re on a mission to expand opportunities for all Canadian post-secondary students and employers to succeed in the workplaces of tomorrow,” says Krista Pawley, Co-Founder of Wavemakers. “Wavemakers bridges a critical gap by connecting post-secondary students from traditionally underrepresented communities with future-focused employers across Canada.”

“Wavemakers has presented Edelman with a platform to connect with high potential students from diverse communities in new ways,” says Bianca Boyd, COO of Edelman. “Not only will our senior leaders share their lived experiences with the students, but they will broaden their perspectives on what the workplace could, and should, look like.”

“Wavemakers left me inspired to keep considering new ways of problem-solving, as the [societal] issues we face are becoming increasingly complex,” says Mya Walz, Wavemakers Student Alumni from the beta cohort in summer 2021.

“The virtual reality campus gives students the flexibility to practice, explore, and complete meaningful work experiences from wherever they are,” says Alison Reaves, NorQuest College. “The quality of the Wavemakers content, together with the novelty of the experience, helps students stay engaged and form connections with other students and program mentors in a way that traditional online programs cannot.”

“We’re thrilled to be working in partnership with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), industry partners, post-secondary institutions, and community groups across Canada,” says Oren Berkovich, Co-Founder at Wavemakers. “Together, we’re building a workforce representative of Canada’s multicultural and dynamic nature.”