Canada’s first national work-integrated learning program to use virtual reality, Wavemakers, will connect diverse post-secondary students with leading employers across the country. The program aims to provide access to a virtual campus for thousands of Canadian post-secondary students to facilitate meaningful work-integrated learning experiences with industry experts.

The Government of Canada’s Innovative Work-Integrated Learning Program has partially funded Wavemakers, which is the first to deploy virtual reality for the purpose. The program amalgamates cutting-edge technology, innovative curriculum, and industry expertise to help students pick a more diverse and inclusive future.

“We’re on a mission to expand opportunities for all Canadian post-secondary students and employers to succeed in the workplaces of tomorrow,” said 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 presented Edelman with a platform to connect with high potential students from diverse communities in new ways,” said Bianca Boyd, COO of Edelman. “Not only will our senior leaders share their lived experiences with students, but they will broaden their perspectives on what the workplace could, and should, look like.”

More than 1,000 post-secondary students from underrepresented communities, including Black, First Nations, Metis, Inuit, LGBTQ2S, students with disabilities, neurodiverse students, rural and remote students, and women, will conclude the Wavemakers’ program by March 31, 2022.

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

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