Red River College (RRC) Polytechnic is Manitoba’s largest institute of applied learning and research. Through hands-on and online learning opportunities, RRC Polytechnic prepares their students to become leaders in their fields, while also ensuring they can meet changing industry demands and contribute to the province’s economic growth.
Through this project, RRC Polytechnic delivered 1,297 WIL opportunities between September 2022 - October 2023 and 356 WIL opportunities from November 2023 - January 2025, with an emphasis on increasing Indigenous student participation across all WIL programs within the WIL and Career Services Department, and specifically within the School of Indigenous Education, Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Tourism Management, and in Business programs. The project focused on strengthening partnerships with new employers, and fostering Indigenous engagement in traditional and emerging WIL opportunities.
RRC Polytechnic sees engaging new employers in Canada's WIL ecosystem as critical since many employers remain unaware of the immense advantages of WIL and the potential for collaboration with post-secondary institutions. The project provided enhanced support to facilitate employers’ active involvement in WIL programs.
Students integrated their academic knowledge with real-world experience in co-op and field placements, and micro-WIL experiences gave students networking opportunities, career conversations, and a career development speaker series with industry and community partners to acquire targeted skills and knowledge relevant to their career interests.
