Riipen connects students with employers for short-term projects, through their innovative programs like the brand new Riipen FuturePath. Employers are invited to submit their projects for the June 2025 Cohort now.
“Our mission is to end graduate underemployment and to help learners and industry partners thrive in the future of work. Not everyone has the opportunity to do a co-op placement, so we really wanted to be able to introduce a bridge that could be an alternative.”
–Nicole Gibson, Project Manager at Riipen
Company: Riipen
Workhaus Location: 56 Temperance Street
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Founded in British Columbia in 2013, Riipen is North America’s largest marketplace for experiential learning. They are dedicated to bridging the gap between education and employment, tackling the issue of graduate underemployment head-on. The Riipen team in Toronto has been part of the Workhaus community since 2021.
Riipen connects students with employers for short-term projects, through their innovative programs like Level UP, and the brand new Riipen FuturePath program. By embedding these project-based engagements directly into existing curriculum, they make it easier for higher education institutions and industries to collaborate. These programs transform assignments into relevant skills for specific industry projects, allowing students to gain real-world experience and employers to access the right talent.
Riipen’s core values are learning, purpose, inclusivity, ingenuity, community, and empowerment. They implement those values in their work with students and employers every day. Since their inception, they have enabled 164,000+ students at 700+ post-secondary institutions and training providers to partake in applied learning with 44,000+ companies.
Riipen FuturePath is a sister program to Riipen’s Level UP program, and is running for the first time in 2025. The Riipen FuturePath program is a key initiative in achieving Riipen’s mission to bridge the education-employment gap and end graduate underemployment. The program connects students with employers for short-term projects, providing practical work experience designed to help students gain job experience while simultaneously assisting employers in finding fresh talent.
In conversation with Workhuas, Nicole Gibson, Project Manager at Riipen, said: “It’s a 60-hour testing ground for both students and employers.”
Through Riipen FuturePath and Level UP, employers get access to fresh talent and first-hand experience with the future workforce. Moreover, employers often find that students who are new to certain industries, or to the workforce as a whole, come in with fresh and innovative new ideas. These collaborations allow everyone involved to access valuable experiences and new perspectives that are shaping the future of work, having lasting impacts on employer companies and graduate careers.
“It’s really important to us that we get employers who are excited about working with students; who are excited about helping to shape that next generation of employees, and also who want that fresh perspective. I think that’s really what students come in with.“
Riipen FuturePath connects students with employers for short-term projects, lasting between 2 and 8 weeks, totaling 60 hours worked. The ultimate goal is to help students find full-time jobs by gaining practical work experience and to help employers find fresh talent in students ready to enter the workforce.
Compensation for student participants is $1,400.40, funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Innovative Work-Integrated Learning (I-WIL) Initiatives program. Through this funding structure, Riipen is able to contribute half of that compensation, with the rest contributed by the employer.
Riipen accepts employers from all sectors, and most employers in Canada are already eligible to participate. When it comes to projects, they see all sorts and encourage students to pursue what interests them. At the end of the day what’s most important is that everyone walks away feeling like they’ve invested in themselves and accomplished something valuable.
“We really encourage students to step out of the box a little bit, and employers as well. What is it that you’re interested in, and what you would really like help with? What do you feel that you need an outside perspective in? The students will likely gravitate to that,” Nicole said, adding: “We want to make sure we are setting everybody up for that same success and expectations that we can successfully complete this project.”
Employers interested in participating can find more information on the Riipen website. For additional information on how to apply to the program, how to create a project, what students are looking for, and how Riipen can guide you through that process, visit their help centre.
Riipen is launching three cohorts this year: one kicking off in June, the next in August, and a third in October. Projects for the June 2025 cohort can start between June 2 and July 28, 2025, with an end period between June 13 and September 19, 2025. Projects for the August 2025 cohort can start between August 4 and September 29, 2025, with an end period between August 15 and November 21, 2025.
For More information on the upcoming cohorts, checkout the Riipen FuturePath Cohort Breakdown.
“There are so many aspects that a student can bring forward, and you can teach the rest.”
While employers don’t have to be actively hiring to participate in these programs, one of the benefits of programs like Riipen FuturePath and Level UP is the potential to offer employers a new perspective on who and what they’re looking for. After having the chance to work with students first-hand, some have discussed future projects or even employment. Some who are considering hiring may know that they’ve found the right person after having the chance to work with them and realizing that they are a good fit; an experience that traditional hiring channels rarely offer.
As Nicole explained, ”The hope is that this really allows employers to do a bit of a test run on these students, like an extended interview piece. You get to work with them for six weeks and see how they work, how they meet the needs of your organization, the ideas that they come in with, that fresh outlook, and then, maybe that does move into a position where you’re looking to hire them, or you want to see what future work you could do together.”
Meanwhile, students get real-world experience, a chance to thrive in a workplace, learn new industries, and begin to understand those sectors through a fully immersive experience.
While on paper it may seem very obvious what qualifications are needed for someone to excel in a role, Nicole says: “I think what this has allowed a lot of employers to learn, through their work in so many sectors of our organization, is that this isn’t always the case. There are so many aspects that a student can bring forward, and you can teach the rest.” In practice, she told us, qualities like transferable skills often end up being more valuable to employers than formal education and experience.
“A lot of our successes come from 90% of our Level Up students saying that it helped them prepare for the workforce,” said Nicole. Of course, it’s not just students who take something valuable away from Riipen programs. “We have so many success stories from so many employers who came into this and love it, and they come back time and time again to work with more and more students because they learned so much from them. It has changed their companies, and we really just want to keep providing that.”
Level UP landed 64% of participants in employment. However, success in the context of experiential learning runs deeper and has longer-lasting effects than any one job offer. The focus Riipen pays to personal and professional development, along with real-world impact, is evident in the hundreds of testimonials and success stories that have been posted to their Wall of Love.
“I highly recommend the experience. It was a joy to work with such talented and dedicated students. After this experience I’m already lining up my next project. Highly successful, energizing, bringing new perspectives and ideas. It was amazing to tap into the talent I needed to complete the work,” reads one.
Another says: “The program gave me the confidence to reach out and network while looking for work, and the value of that alone is immeasurable. This program went much more in depth than something you would be able to complete on your own through websites such as Lynda or Codecademy. A real highlight was the capstone project which gave us real world experience solving real problems for clients. It gave us the opportunity to put into action many of the skills we had learned in a space where it was safe to ask many questions and even fail. While I have so much more to learn I feel confident in the skills I obtained through Edge Up and feel I can definitely build on them asI move forward with this career.”
May 5, 2025:
Cohort open for Employer Projects – Employers are invited to request to match their projects to the June 2025 Cohort. Visit How to Apply to Riipen FuturePath: Employers for more details.
June 30, 2025 to July 28, 2025:
Project Start Date Window – Projects must start within this window. Students and employers must start their collaboration within this date range. Students must complete the onboarding survey and hit “Start” in the platform in order to confirm the project’s participation in the cohort.
June 27, 2025
Last Day for Employers to Request a Project Match – Employers must submit their requests for student matches by this date to participate in the final project matching period. This includes signing the program agreements, providing your credit card information, verifying your identity and confirming the match to the experience.
July 13, 2025 to September 19, 2025:
Project End Date Window – All projects must be completed within this date range, 2-8 week from their starting date. Exceeding 8 weeks may result in the project not being eligible for payment.. Visit Guide for completing a Riipen FuturePath project for more details.
For More information on dates and deadlines, checkout the Riipen FuturePath Cohort Breakdown.
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