Ontario's non-profit sector and the unpaid internship scam

The non-profit sector in Ontario is notorious for utilizing unpaid internship schemes to force young people into situations where they're illegally mischaracterized as interns when actually employees, not paid minimum wage contrary to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and denied the full protection of workplace law in Ontario. Shaun Smith recently wrote an excellent article entitled "Internships and the Law: What You Need to Know" for Charity Village that explores the dimensions of the use of unpaid internships within the non-profit sector. A brief look at the job board of the Work in Culture website reveals numerous illegal internships with organizations such as: Ryerson University's Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre, the National Ballet of Canada and dance Immersion. Just because an organization lacks a profit motive doesn't mean that it can ignore and avoid compliance with the law. For commentary about what the law in Ontario says about unpaid internships, see: here, here, here and here.