The shorter employment cycles also provide an opportunity to try different "styles" of company to see what you like best. Throughout university I've been employed in government, at a multinational corporation, at a startup of nine employees, and at the company I cofounded. This experience, combined with living in different cities (Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Waterloo) for each, has been invaluable.

This. I can't tell you how useful it is to have learned to be completely comfortable doing interviews. Through my co-op experiences, I've probably done 25 to 30 interviews at all sorts of companies, and different styles of interviews. And all this before I graduated. Very useful!

These factors are really where Waterloo shines. At my school I had 3 6-month internships so I got just a taste of those things I think; more chances to interview and refine would have been great.