Students are busy people. I know this. You know this. We have part-time jobs. Some of us have full-time jobs. Some volunteer. Some have children. Regardless of our differences, the one thing all Canadian university students do have in common is a severe lack of extra time.
In the debate over Canada’s unpaid internships, it is not an issue of overvaluing work experience. Instead, the biggest problem in this discourse, time and time again, appears to be the undervaluing of young people’s time.
Our generation is often called lazy and spoiled. And some of us are—as are select individuals from any generation.
However, in a society that is increasingly fixated on credentials, it seems unjust to ask a student to take time away from working toward a degree or certification to do an internship that is not reciprocated with anything apart from just the experience.
Ontario is now seemingly divided on the ethics of unpaid internships. Following the provincial Ministry of Labour’s ruling in March, businesses or groups can now only employ interns without pay in limited circumstances. One such circumstance is if a university approves the placement.
The Council of Ontario Universities’ (COU) report, “Bringing Life to Learning at Ontario Universities,” outlines the benefits of what is called “experiential learning.” Working with businesses and organizations on real-life projects is undeniably a great way to prepare students for work and strengthens a resumé.
What seems unjust is if a student works as an intern in a place endorsed by their university and receives neither pay nor academic credit for it. Throughout the council’s report, only four of the programs described compensate students with such credit.
Maybe this is oversight on the part of whoever drafted the report, but either way emphasis should be given to the exchange of time and labour for experience and either academic credit or pay. Students are not a vulnerable sector to be taken advantage of.
While unpaid internships grant valuable work experience, they fail to put food on tables or pay rent. Canadian universities are already preferential to students whose families can afford to support them.
Youth whose families cannot are forced to incur massive student debt or not attend at all. Without a standardized system for experiential learning placements, universities must be wary of over-encumbering students who are already working to their limits.
The ministry’s ruling is certainly a positive step for Ontario’s students. As an organization comprised of all 20 of Canada’s major universities, COU should take steps to ensure students are being compensated justly for both their labour and their time. After all, any university student will tell you that after money, groceries and beer, time is one thing that we could always use a little bit more of.
