What do you mean by Optional Co-op ?
An internship course in the university "credited" ? Then yes it's considered as Co-op.
I am not in a Co-op program but I took an internship course of 3 credits and applied for the co-op work permit and it got accepted and when I apply for internship I state that it's a Co Op since it's "credited" and mandatory to complete my degree. ( Yes I can take another course rather than the internship, but if you take the internship course, it means that you need to validate it in order to get the credits and hence it drops under the term Co-op).
Note that in Quebec, the Co-op term is different a little bit. In my university for example, I can take an internship course and it's still considered as a Co-op internship.
And in all cases, you will get a letter from the university stating that you need an internship to complete your degree.
In my case, I got a letter from the internship coordinator stating that I am taking a credited internship course that is mandatory to complete my degree.
You can discuss that with your coordinator too in your univeristy
I hope you can get what I mean..
