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UVic grad students study murky world of unpaid internships

When James Attfield and Isabelle Couture set out to conduct a nationwide survey of interns in Canada, they came with some first-hand knowledge of the topic.
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University of Victoria student Emily Rogers, who is on her third internship, says it is emotionally and financially taxing to work without pay, in addition to completing courses and holding a paid job.

When James Attfield and Isabelle Couture set out to conduct a nationwide survey of interns in Canada, they came with some first-hand knowledge of the topic.

The University of Victoria graduate researchers never had to work for free, but belong to a demographic where unpaid and underpaid internships with no promise of a real job seem to be a growing norm.

“It’s a bit of a personal cause for us because we feel that young people between the ages of 18 and 34 are being taken advantage of and there’s not much in terms of statistics on this,” Attfield said.

Their report is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Though small in scale, the Canadian Internship Survey takes the first step toward filling a knowledge gap left by the federal government on the topic.

Statistics Canada keeps no record of that segment of the labour market; however, Toronto labour lawyer Andrew Langille estimates on his website that about 500,000 unpaid interns are working legally and illegally each year in Canada.

Claire Seaborn, president of the Canadian Intern Association, which promoted the UVic study, called that a big problem.

“You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know what the problem is,” she said.

Employment law is provincially regulated in Canada, but the general rule is that interns must be paid unless they receive academic credit for the internship, in which case it’s often termed a practicum.

Seaborn, a University of Ottawa law student, said British Columbia compares favourably to other provinces because it explicitly prohibits non-academic unpaid internships.

“B.C. is the most progressive and best province in terms of interns, but there are issues of enforcement,” Seaborn said.

There’s little data on how many interns are filing complaints and how many are successfully receiving retroactive minimum wage, she said.

“So it’s hard for us to see whether the enforcement is working or even happening,” she said.

In Victoria, GEOS Canada places international students in paid and unpaid internships, often in food and hospitality industries.

“What they’re getting out of it is a language ability,” said Felicity Borgal, executive assistant for Languages Canada, the umbrella organization that gives the school accreditation. “That’s sort of the main aim of the internship and co-op programs through the language schools — it’s to focus on the learning of the language in a natural environment.”

Victoria GEOS manager Ian McKinnon said internships are limited to three months and GEOS ensures that it’s a professional environment for active practice of the language, rather than just dishwashing duty.

Emily Rogers works 12 to 15 hours a week unpaid as part of her practicum placement at Together Against Poverty, co-ordinated through UVic’s School of Child and Youth Care.

“I love it. It’s a wonderful educational opportunity that I would not have if not for the practicum I’m doing — I have no other way to be exposed to those skills,” Rogers said.

At the same time, she called it emotionally and financially draining. Her days typically begin at 5 a.m., when she gets ready for the gym. From 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., she’s doing her practicum. From 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. she’s doing a paid job. She returns home about 7 p.m. and eats dinner, before beginning work on her three online courses.

“Doing that for an extended period of time can be extremely taxing on my personal and emotional resources,” she said.

Rogers previously completed a paid internship. It was a small wage, but it made a difference, she said.

“It wasn’t significant, but it allowed me to work there through the summer and still support myself financially,” she said. “It takes a lot of pressure off.”

Seaborn said the Canadian Interns Association is advocating for whistleblower protection for interns who wish to report violations anonymously, without marring their reputation in an industry. She said hiring designated enforcement officers with knowledge of labour laws surrounding internships would also make enforcement more effective.

Attfield said he hopes his survey helps prompt policy change, especially in Ontario. While spot audits and regulation of advertising for unpaid internships would make a difference, he also emphasized whistleblowing protection.

“I’d like to see change that guarantees some kind of anonymity for interns, protecting their vulnerability and giving them some kind of whistleblower protection. Because the whole process right now doesn’t favour them and it incentivizes them to keep quiet,” he said.

Survey results

Attfield and Couture’s survey received more than 300 responses from across Canada, with the majority in Ontario and the Toronto area.

While Attfield couldn’t discuss specifics before the report’s release, he said that about 70 to 80 per cent of respondents were women and a disproportionate number had parents who earned more than $200,000 per year.

“[The theory is that] people who have student loans, who can’t live at home, who don’t have parents who can support them — they’re much less likely to work for free. But that’s not something we can really prove,” he said.

Certain industries, including journalism, were more heavily represented than others, he said. And while some internships provided a reasonable stipend, others gave daily bus fare and others were completely unpaid.

Attfield believes it’s a trend that picked up speed in 2008 and 2009, alongside the recession.

“It seems like it spiked,” he said. “You get people who are desperate for work, they have student debt, they need to get experience, people are telling them, ‘I’m not going to hire you unless you have experience,’ and, ‘We can’t afford to pay you, but you can work for free,’ ” he said. “But a lot of those internships do not lead to jobs, which is really sad.”

And while companies once invested in their employees, providing on-the-job training, employees are now expected to arrive fully trained — another financial hurdle.

“It’s an unfair distribution of wealth. Basically, you see the younger generation losing their right to make money and earn a wage,” Attfield said.

asmart@timescolonist.com