Placement Set-up Procedure

Once staff or faculty have determined that there is a match between program requirements and site capacity for an education placement, the steps below should be followed:

Establish the Placement Agreement

Determine if an agreement currently exists that includes your program(s) by sending the site names to placements@utoronto.ca. If so, proceed with the placement.
If another program has an agreement with them the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students & First-Entry Divisions (OVPS) will work with you and the site to add your program via an addendum to an existing agreement, if possible.
If no agreement exists with the site, send the site the University’s Student Placement Agreement Template with completed details as required (such as the name of your program/department/Faculty, name of the site, name of the signing authority, etc.) and ask the site to sign.
- Note: Inform your contact at the site that the University of Toronto student placement template is the form of agreement that has been approved by Governing Council and is used by the University when initiating a student placement relationship with a site. The template is straightforward document that protects the student, the site and the University in a manner that is clear and balanced. More robust agreements can be negotiated in future if it becomes evident that the site and the University have mutual interest in multiple student placements across various programs and for successive years.
If the site signs the agreement, send a copy to the OVPS.
If the site is not willing to sign the University’s template OR if the site wishes to make substantive changes to the University’s template OR if the site insists that the University sign the site’s template, convey to the site that timelines for review of significant changes to the template or review of the site’s template are difficult to predict and may fall outside the planned timeline for the placement (in particular if the planned placement is sooner than three months from the current date). Reiterate to the site that the template is used when the University is initiating a student placement relationship with a site and that more robust agreements can be negotiated in future if it becomes evident that the site and the University have mutual interest in multiple student placements across various programs and for successive years.
If the site is still unwilling to sign the UofT template, please follow up with the OVPS to investigate the options available to you. It may be necessary to make other arrangements for the placement.

Set-up the Workplace Insurance

Determine whether or not the Student is eligible for MTCU-funded workplace insurance.
- The Student Trainee’s workplace insurance is covered by the MTCU if the following criteria apply:
  - The placement must be a program requirement or be part of a required course for the student’s academic program. Placements that are part of optional or elective courses are not covered by MTCU.
  - The placement is unpaid. The student may receive an honorarium or stipend.
  - The student is enrolled in a program funded through the Ministry’s operating grants.
  - If the student is an international student, the placement cannot be in their country of primary residence. Coverage is provided for international placements through ACE-INA and funded by MTCU.
  - Credit is received for the placement. Students that arrange their own unpaid placement where the work does not contribute to an academic credit are not covered.
  - The placement site is not the University. U of T students are not covered by MTCU if their placement site is on a U of T campus.
- If the student’s placement meets the above criteria, please proceed to “Complete the Paperwork”.
- If the student’s placement does not meet the criteria for wokplace insurance coverage under the MTCU, please proceed to item 2.
In the even that the placement is not covered by the MTCU, confirm with the placement site supervisor whether the placement site is covered by the WSIB or through a third party insurance policy.
- WSIB Workplace
  - Confirm if the placement site will add the placement student to their WSIB policy for the duration of the placement (If yes, this should be confirmed in the agreement)
  - If the placement site declines to add the student to its WSIB coverage the University will consider whether to elect to be the employer for WSIB purposes. Contact placements@utoronto.ca for details.
- Non-WSIB Workplace
  - The University holds a blanket workplace insurance policy through ACE-INA that students doing placements in non-WSIB worplaces can be added to. Contact placements@utoronto.ca for details.

Complete the Paperwork

If workplace insurance coverage is to be provided through MTCU, then the following steps must be taken:

Have the student complete the Student Declaration of Understanding (MTCU). Keep the signed copy in the placement file for the duration of the placement.
Issue a Letter to Placement Employers (MTCU) for their signature. Keep an original signed copy in the placement file for the duration of the placement.
Notify the placement employer whenever there are any changes to the work placement.

If workplace insurance coverage is not provided through MTCU, then the following steps must be taken:

Have the student complete the Student Declaration of Understanding (Non-MTCU) Keep the signed copy in the placement file for the duration of the placement.
Issue a Letter to Placement Employer (Non-MTCU) for their signature. Keep an original signed copy in the placement file for the duration of the placement.
Notify the placement employer whenever there are any changes to the work placement.

All placement employers are obligated under the Ontario Health & Safety Act, as well as by the Placement Agreements, to provide orientation and safety training to student trainees. In order to assist placement sites in meeting these obligations MTCU had developed two forms that should be used: