the problem with unpaid internships

About the Canadian Intern Association

The Canadian Intern Association is an advocacy group that aims to raise awareness about the exploitation of unpaid interns and help improve the internship experience for Canadians.

We hope to educate Canadians on employment standards, bring this issue into public discussion and create a cultural incentive for companies to treat interns fairly. The organization was founded on May 28, 2012 by a group of young people that come from a variety of backgrounds (law, journalism, film, media, marketing, and more).

Visit our website at www.internassocation.ca to learn more about the organization.

What's wrong with internships?

The Canadian Intern Association recognizes that while many internship experiences may be very positive, there is a growing trend of unpaid, underpaid and/or unfair internships in Canada. These internships may
- exploit young people
- lead to higher unemployment rates
- contribute to inequality
- stifle innovation
- be against the law

Our organization focuses on improving internships in the private sector, not internships with government, not-for-profit organizations, or charities.

We understand that some unpaid interns have a legal right to minimum wage and that class action lawsuits across North America have led to interns claiming a salary for their work. We want to help employers and interns learn the law so that internships are in line with employment standards and a positive experience from the start.

About the Pay Our Intern Campaign

The Canadian Intern Association is currently run entirely by volunteers. We hope to raise $4000 to hire our own paid intern for 10 hours per week at $14 per hour from September to December 2012.

The remaining funds will be used to pay for our domain name and website space ($60), registering our organization with the provincial government so we can open a bank account ($60), our graphic design work ($150), indiegogo and bank fees ($300) and our campaign video ($350).

To donate visit www.indiegogo.com/payourintern

Once hired, our intern will

- create an Internship Guide for employers and interns
- manage our website and social media pages
- develop a long-term funding strategy
- research best practices from other countries
- initiate a plan to lobby provincial governments to improve and enforce employment standards for interns

To apply, download the PDF document under the Gallery tab on this site or visit the Pay Our Intern Campaign section of our website. You will find a full job description and explanation of how to apply.

www.internassociation.ca
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