The University of Regina in Sakatchewan, Canada is now offering free courses to students who are unable to find employment six months after graduation. The scheme, reported by Macleans at the end of last week, is the first of its kind in Canada, and is due to begin in the next academic year.

Termed a guarantee programme, the university will offer unemployed students another year of courses, all for free, if they are unable to find employment in their field. The university will pay for any courses undertaken by unemployed graduates.

“The whole idea is to not only help you maintain a successful path in your academics but to expose you and make you marketable, employable,” said Barbara Pollock, Vice President of External Relations at the University.

To qualify for the scheme, students will be expected to maintain a 70% grade average and partake in career counseling to help them get ahead in the job market.

“We’re not guaranteeing a job,” continued Pollock. “What we’re doing is saying that if you aren’t in a meaningful role that you’ve been studying for and aiming for over the last four years, in six months after graduation we will guarantee a year’s worth of honing skills that you may have found that you’re lacking.”

To read the full report at Macleans OnCampus, click here.

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