My Co-op with the Ontario Public Service

April 2025 marked the end of my academic term at Seneca studying public relations and corporate communications, and it also marked the beginning of my co-op placement at the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES). There are some 30 Ontario ministries that are part of the Ontario Public Service (OPS), employing over 60,000 public servants who develop policies and deliver public services.

MCURES works in the area of higher education and research and includes functions such as:

• Student financial assistance like the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) or the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant (OLSG)
• Funding enrolment seats in schools, such as expanding nursing seats
• Authorize universities to grant degrees
• Developing tools to support career development such as My Career Journey

I was part of the communications branch during my co-op for four months, and I’ve had many opportunities to learn new skills and build meaningful relationships with my colleagues. In this blog post, I’ll talk about my experience working in OPS and how you could start your career in it.

My experience working at an Ontario ministry

The Communications Branch at MCURES

The communications branch at MCURES has three units:

• Community Insights Unit: manages issues, monitors media, responds to correspondents and media requests
• Communications Planning & Implementation Unit: creates communication products such as communication plans, remarks, news releases and supports ministry events
• Digital & Creative Services Unit: designs marketing materials, manages social media, updates the website, and supports events

I applied for the junior issues coordinator role, part of the Community Insights Unit at MCURES. It was a full-time role that spanned from May to August 2025. On my first day, I learned that I was actually placed at the Digital & Creative Services Unit. Another co-op student started at the same time as me and he joined the Community Insights Unit. It turns out that my past experience was a better fit in the Digital & Creative Services Unit and they needed support with big events coming up.

Here’s a breakdown of what my tasks looked like:

• Planning the content calendar and creating social media posts
• Developed a social media strategy which looked at the audience, goals, content pillars, and posting schedule
• Supported ministry events on the ground and captured content for social media
• Supported event logistics such as booking vendors and printing program materials

Event planning and coordination was my favourite part of working in this unit. I attended two events. The first event I was involved with capturing video footage to post on social media. The second I was more hands on and worked with vendors and helped produce the printed program. If I learned anything, it’s that being flexible and thinking on the spot is a huge asset to plan events. There was a moment where printing the program was so last minute that I had to ask the printer to ship them to us the night before the event!

At the end of my co-op term, I was offered a contract role with the Community Insights Unit, the team I applied for initially. Here, I learned about social media monitoring and correspondents. If this unit was all about context, then the previous unit (Digital and Creative) was all about content. Marketing is all about content—articles, video, social media—it’s what people want to see. But communications is also about understanding context—media coverage and social listening. It’s about recognizing how others perceive your brand.

At first, I struggled to understand the purpose of the community insights unit. Especially with media monitoring. So what if we know an Ontario college had a security incident? What do we do with this information? Eventually, I started to understand. It’s about being informed enough think a few steps ahead and recognizing the effect it may have on our brand.

Work environment

The culture of my branch was fantastic. Everyone I worked with and spoke to was very professional and friendly. Another team member was pregnant at the same time as me, so the branch threw us a surprise party to celebrate. We received some fun gifts, played some games, and had sweet treats. It was a lovely time and such a warm way to help us welcome our babies.

My immediate managers were very supportive. They were always available to answer my questions and help me explore career pathways. They set up shadowing opportunities with other teams so I could learn about their work. My managers always looked out for me and my wellbeing. Even though they knew I was pregnant and would go on maternity leave, they worked with me to help me understand my options to return to OPS. Since I was not a permanent employee, my contract with them would terminate when I went on leave. However, I still have access to the internal jobs board which gives me a leg up over external candidates.

OPS is a behemoth of an organization, which means there are many opportunities to explore. Perhaps you joined for one job and discovered another role you never knew existed. I saw a post for change management, something I never heard before, and attended their webinar about the role. It was so interesting to me that I reached out to the presenter to learn more. However, the challenge of working in a large organization means that it can be difficult to thrive as a generalist, which I am. Smaller organizations compress multiple roles into one, while larger ones offer room for specializations. I have a lot of skills that make me a great asset, so it will take me more time to figure out where I belong.

A large organization also means there are lengthy approvals in place. Approving a social media calendar had to go through five to six stakeholders just to publish. It’s a lot to handle. You need be to patient and plan ahead to meet deadlines. It can be tough to manage, especially when timing is so tight.

I am still confused about how contracts work at OPS. Many employees are on fixed-term contracts, meaning they are not permanent. I’ve seen roles posted for 12 months and some up to 18. Permanent roles are hard to come by. Job security comes with being a permanent employee since there is no end date. In my case, it would have allowed me to return to my position after my maternity leave. However, it takes time to become permanent. You usually have to work for a few years on contract before becoming permanent. The upside to this is that it means people can easily move between roles, even ministries. In the span of 6 months I was there, five people switched jobs at my branch. They either joined or left. And this was very normal. Contract roles encourage teams to introduce new members who bring fresh ideas and approaches. It’s ideal for young professionals who want to learn and network.

Everyone I came across was very open to talk about their work. It was so easy to set up informational interviews. I really appreciated this aspect of OPS. People want to to help you grow in your career. I think this attitude comes with being a public servant. I probably had about 8 informational interviews to understand people’s careers. It was a way to put myself out there while gaining information about career options.

Starting a Career with the Ontario Public Service

From what I’ve seen and heard, there are three main ways to start a career in the OPS.

1. Ontario Internship Program (OIP): This is a one-year, paid internship program to nurture recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in the public sector. The salary is $57,085 plus benefits, which is a competitive rate when you look at similar roles at this level. For comparison, Craft Public Relations, a PR agency in Toronto, lists the salary band for interns at $40,000.
2. Post-secondary co-op program: Some ministries exclusively post co-op roles on school jobs board. This was how I got my foot in the door. I enrolled into an optional co-op component at Seneca Polytechnic, granting me access to the co-op jobs board. The co-op students I met at the communications branch were from schools that offered postgraduate public relations program such as Seneca, Sheridan or Centennial.
3. External job postings: Most of the open opportunities are posted internally and only available to current OPS employees. Occasionally, ministries will post opportunities externally—as you can imagine, these are very competitive and favour candidates with experience.

I didn’t see too many co-op students outside of my unit. I saw a lot more interns who were part of the OIP, especially young professionals. There are a few key differences between a co-op student and intern.

• Co-op students need to complete their co-op to graduate while interns are recent graduates
• The application process to become an intern is rigorous and spans six months, which includes a screening, written test and interview. My application experience as a co-op student involved just an interview. From application to accepting the offer was two about weeks (I applied on February 25, interviewed on March 3 and received an offer on March 11).
• A co-op student’s term is four months while an intern’s is 12 months. So interns have more time to network and find their next opportunity.
• Co-op students pay is significantly lower than an interns. The compensation for co-op students ranges from $18-20 per hour, which translates to about $30,000-$34,000 annually.

If you’re a student and want to work for the OPS, then consider applying for a co-op placement and to the OIP to increase your chances of getting in. According to their FAQs page, the OIP accepts 265 interns annually, so it is competitive. The interns I’ve met had some previous work experience which helped them stand out from other applicants. If you’re fresh out of school with work limited experience, the co-op route might be an easier way in since you’re competing with fewer people i.e. students in similar programs at your school rather than all recent graduates in Ontario.

OPS is a Great Place to Start a Career

I had a great time working at MCURES. It helped me achieve my goal to better understand communications as a field and I met fantastic people. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. It cemented my desire to work in the public sector as it had a strong emphasis on serving others.

If I have just one advice to offer, it’s this: take full advantage of the dining areas. Eat your lunch there and talk to people outside of your team. You’ll learn so much more here than at your desk—I promise. It’s where you connect with others at a human level and you will develop meaningful relationships. I always sat at an open table so others could join me if they wanted to. And it led to many wonderful conversations about life, family, and hobbies. Developing strong relationships is the foundation of living a good life. And it’s so fascinating to explore the relationship between the public and a brand. It’s complex, messy, and rarely linear. It’s why I love public relations and I’m glad I had the chance to further my knowledge in it with this ministry.

I concluded my time here by going on maternity leave. What’s next? I would go back if I had the chance to. I’ll be keeping an eye on the internal jobs board and connect with my managers to see if there are open opportunities on their teams. Otherwise, I’ll continue exploring other roles in communications.