From Summer 2025 through Winter 2026, 588 LA&PS students benefitted from securing a meaningful, paid co-op placement to help build their network, enhance skills and complement their academic journey

LA&PS Co-op employer engagement expanded this year through more than 130 new partnerships across key sectors. This expansion was supported by the LA&PS Wage Subsidy Program, the creation of faculty-funded co-op roles aligned with social justice priorities and funding for not-for-profit co-op placements secured by the Faculty's Advancement team through program sponsor Canada Life. 

This year, we collaborated with the central co-op team to offer York University students a centralized job board with 20 industry search categories and more opportunities. Thanks to this partnership, we saw a 10% increase in co-op enrolment and a 35% increase in students securing co-op work terms for the Fall 2025 term.

This year we worked with over 700 co-op employer partners to offer more than 7,500 job postings to LA&PS students, providing them with a range of opportunities to gain paid, meaningful work experience.

Through Connections: Student & Alumni Mixers, 232 students engaged with industry leaders, fostering mentorship, networking and career development opportunities.

This year we engaged 110 mentees and 37 mentors through the Advancing YU program, enabling impactful mentoring relationships and career development outcomes.

This year, over 70 LA&PS alumni participated in mentoring programs, panels and focus groups to support current and future students.

Vanier College Productions (VCP) delivered 70 student engagement activities to build community this year, including nine productions, 21 student and alumni events and four workshops supporting more than 1,100 student participants and welcoming over 3,100 community members. VCP programming spanned curriculuar and co-curricular productions, alumni engagement events and skill-building workshops focused on equity, professional practice and performance development.

Department of Anthropology alumna Ana Speranza was recognized by the Royal Society of Canada for her contributions to equity, social justice and Indigenous engagement. Speranza received the Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize, which recognizes an individual with exceptional potential to advance equity and social justice in Canada or globally.

Two LA&PS alumni were appointed to the Order of Canada this year. Rosanna Caira (BA ’80) was recognized for her contributions to advancing women’s leadership in the hospitality and tourism sectors, while Jane Laurine Darville (BAS ’89) was honoured for her leadership in specialized health care and pediatric palliative care. Their appointments highlight the lasting contributions of LA&PS alumni to communities across Canada.

LA&PS alumnus Maurizio Bevilacqua was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws at York University’s Fall 2025 Convocation. The honour recognizes his more than 30 years of public service and his leadership as Mayor of Vaughan during a period of transformative growth and expansion for the city.

Five LA&PS alumni were named to York University's 2026 Top 30 Alumni Under 30 list in recognition of their leadership, innovation and commitment to creating positive change in their communities and professions. The honoured alumni are Muhammad Abdulhafiz, founder of Tutorizer; Wasi Syed Babar, Senior Program Manager at the City of Toronto and Chief Operating Officer of Muslim Youth Revival; Talha Aamer Chaudhry, Technology Consultant at Abacus; Adam Garisto, Speechwriter with the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada; and Esther Martinez, educator and founder of Raices. Their achievements reflect the diverse contributions of LA&PS alumni across education, public service, technology and entrepreneurship.

Creative Writing alumna Canisia Lubrin received the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her debut work, CODE NOIR. The prestigious award recognizes excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States and includes a prize of US$150,000, making it one of the most significant literary awards in North America.

Department of Economics alumnus Nikolai Cook received the Economic Sciences Prize at the 2024 John Charles Polanyi Prizes. The award recognizes exceptional early-career researchers in Ontario and honoured Cook for his work examining the economic impacts of climate change and air pollution, as well as his efforts to strengthen transparency and credibility in economics and the social sciences.

The Nellie Langford Rowell Library, the only library of its kind at York University, specializes in feminism, intersectionality, Queer studies and BIPOC studies. The library serves as an essential space for marginalized members of the York community and hosts events centred on social justice (Women Leaders of Tomorrow, She Rising and the Friends of Ruby fundraiser), student success and research (Annual Undergraduate Student Conference) and belonging (Queer Students' Support Group, Women's Bridging Mixer).

This academic year, LA&PS hosted award-winning authors Carleigh Baker and Kate Cayley through the Department of English's Writer-in-Residence (WIR) Program. Baker, a Métis writer and educator, is the author of the award-winning short story collection Bad Endings and the recently released Last Woman. Cayley is an acclaimed fiction writer, poet and playwright whose work has received numerous literary awards and nominations, including for her most recent novel, Property (2025). The WIR program provides students with access to a working, professional writer for feedback and support.