Ontario labour ministry cracks down on unpaid internships
The Ontario labour ministry has cracked down on unpaid internships at Toronto Life and The Walrus, saying they are in contravention of the Employment Standards Act.
As a result, the two publications have cancelled their internship programs—except for those students who are doing their unpaid work for school credit—effective Monday [March 31] and five interns at the each of the magazines will be let go. Since then, Canadian Geographic and Rogers Publishing have also ended their unpaid internship programs.
D. B. Scott, who runs Canadianmags.blogspot.ca, broke the story late Wednesday reporting “the ministry inspector also advised that, though he was starting with Toronto Life, the policy will be enforced later with other St. Joseph magazines and, indeed eventually, all magazines in Ontario.”
While the Canadian Intern Association and the Canadian Writers Group praised the ministry’s actions, the publishers of Toronto Life and The Walrus said the Liberal government’s actions were shortsighted and seemed like a political maneuver to get NDP support.
“They’ve decided to target magazines for some bizarre reason,” said St. Joseph Media CEO Douglas Knight in an interview with J-Source. “Everyone knows that we can’t afford it and the magazine industry is just trying to stay alive.”
Shelley Ambrose, publisher of The Walrus, told J-Source the decision to enforce the legislation was “incredibly shortsighted” and The Walrus will appeal the decision with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
“We help them [the interns] prepare for jobs … does the Ontario government have a training program ready for these young workers? Do they have funding to provide them pay? Where will get the training they need for jobs?”
Bruce Skeaff, media relations co-ordinator for the ministry of labour, said the inspection is ongoing and the government committed $3 million last year to hire additional inspectors and conduct workplace inspections. “This means that, pending any appeal, the workers involved have to be paid,” he said in an emailed statement to J-Source. “The Ministry of Labour will be launching an enforcement blitz this spring focused specifically on internships across a variety of sectors.”
Knight said Toronto Life paid its interns an honorarium until the economic crisis of 2009. He said he would “love to pay our interns, but we can’t even afford to give our regular staff annual cost-of-living increases.”
St. Joseph Media has also cancelled its unpaid internship programs at its other publications. At any given time, it typically has 20 to 30 interns, doing work ranging from filing web copy to fact-checking.
Toronto Life has been running its internship program for more than two decades while The Walrus has run its program since its creation 10 years ago. “This isn’t anything new and you can’t tell me that the government didn’t know about it before,” Knight said.
The issue of unpaid media internships has been picking up steam since last year. NDP labour critic MPP Taras Natyshak said last March that unpaid internships will continue to be at risk of abuse unless they’re regulated by the ministry. And at the federal level, NDP MP Andrew Cash also tabled a private member’s bill calling on the government to establish a legal framework for the labour laws that govern precarious employment.
Claire Seaborn, president of the Canadian Intern Association, said “it’s about time” the Ontario government enforced the act. “It’s good to see them be proactive about this.”
Derek Finkle, co-founder of the Canadian Writers Group that advocates for freelancers, said unpaid work devalues that work of journalists.
“If you’re running a business and tell me you can’t hire people to do that work, then you should shut down your business,” he said. “Many of the interns aren’t completely untrained … some of them have great schooling, have already been published, so you create this sense that their experience isn’t worth paying for.”
Finkle said he was hired as Toronto Life’s first unpaid intern in 1993. The internship led to a cover story for the magazine, but he was never paid for it. “You’re telling me that if I’m good enough a writer to make it the cover of that magazine, that somehow I’m not good enough to be paid,” he said. “Work is work. Pay for it.”
Yet journalists appear to be split on the issue of unpaid internships.
To continue reading this story, visit J-Source.ca where it was originally published.
Legally you weren't allowed to make any promises of a full-time paid job after the internship was going to end, even if that was a possibility. It was supposed to made clear to the intern that it was just for the experience that it wasn't going to lead to a job.
20. Al says:
17 April 2014 at 4:12 PM
I'm sorry to say it, but for the most part, I agree with #15. Unpaid interns *sound* like this wonderful solution to getting work done in tough times when budgets are tight, but in many cases, they prove to be/create more work for editors at the end of the day. Not in all cases, of course. There are interns who go above and beyond, who are a dream to work with, and I'm sure if editors could hire them, they would. The problem isn't with editors. You need to look higher.
Also, as an aside, can we stop comparing unpaid internships to slave labour, please? If you really can't see the difference between the two, kindly Google "slavery" and go from there.
19. Anonymous says:
17 April 2014 at 3:43 PM
This issue is not black or white. Short unpaid internships, with specific start and end dates, can be very helpful for the intern. I worked for three weeks at a radio station for free as a kid and have worked in the media for the last 30 years because of it. A few free weeks is perfectly acceptable for both parties. But as someone said before me, there should be the possibility of a paid job following the internship.
18. Anonymous says:
16 April 2014 at 1:30 PM
#8 here. All I am saying at the paper I was at we never had an intern program until we had massive cuts and layoffs to the editorial budget.
After that it was a great idea to mentor these eager 20-(approaching 30) somethings.
17. Wtf says:
11 April 2014 at 2:19 PM
SJ: I am NOT way off the mark, as you imply in #14. I've been in a position to take on interns/co-ops, and I took the responsibility seriously to help teach/groom/guide them, not just use them for free labour. That's all I was trying to say -- that not ALL editors view it the way #8 was implying. There ARE some professional/considerate/responsible editors/publishers out there.
16. Anonymous says:
11 April 2014 at 8:44 AM
#10, I think you are missing a key point from #6... co-op terms are part of the training program at several journalism schools. Without a co-op term, the student is not fulfilling the requirements of the program that is leading to their degree or diploma. It is actually just taking their learning to a higher level than working on their school newspaper, magazine or website, so that they can see how a real-world publication is put together, while gaining experience working with editors, publishers, sales reps, etc. This is quite beneficial, and the student is gaining something from the structure. And the editors involved are not paid by the schools for teaching these students - done properly, it should be based on goodwill on both sides of that equation.
I don't think #6 was defending unpaid internships at all, but rather trying to show the nuance and difference between traditional on-the-job student training (for aspiring journalists in co-op programs) and what it has morphed into at many publications (i.e. an unscrupulous way for companies to reduce their labour expenditures).
15. Jaded says:
10 April 2014 at 4:23 PM
#8 your comment is so far off the mark it's not even funny. Editors are the last people who want unpaid interns in the room. Believe me, it takes far longer to correct the shoddy work of a junior than it does to write the content yourself. By the time you show them what to do, help them when they screw it up, then fix the mess they've left you, the day's gone and you have nothing to show for it. Publishers may love unpaid interns, but I can assure you, editors would far rather work with experienced professionals - not entitled kids killing time while they figure out whether or not this industry is for them.
Of course, publishers won't pay for that, will they?
14. Sj says:
10 April 2014 at 1:01 PM
To WTF - You're way off the mark. The simple fact that they have people work for no pay, is treating them like crap. I don't know about "weak-willed", but I do think any publishers who work people for free are without morals or ethics. Pure opportunists of the worst kind! I wonder how these same publishers would feel if it was their kids being treated like this? Perhaps an interview with someone such as Doug Knight regarding this topic would prove to be interesting.
13. Wtf says:
10 April 2014 at 12:51 PM
#8 Anon: That's hardly the elephant in the room. Your assumption that only "weak-willed" editors take interns and that they all treat them like crap is ridiculous.
12. Anonymous says:
10 April 2014 at 12:25 PM
I notice that Toronto Life still manages to find the money to pay for perfect-bound magazines and glossy covers on heavy stock. Maybe try slashing some of the costs associated with those luxuries before you start crying poor and claiming you can't pay interns.
11. Not Impressed says:
10 April 2014 at 9:48 AM
I have to admit to being shocked with how many ways people are seeing this free internship matter. Call it 'experience building' or 'internship' or whatever else you want, but as the saying goes, put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. I've worked with too many publishers who see free internships as nothing more than free labour. Not as good as govt. sponsored labour, but close! You don't need to pay them, can treat them like dirt, give then jobs to do that have nothing to do with helping them build their experience, and if they don't like it, kick them out. I don't always agree with Editor, but in this instance, yes, it is nothing more than slave labour, and should be outlawed. I personally will NOT deal with any organization who work staff for free. And let's stop kidding ourselves, MOST, thankfully not all, publishers don't care about anyone but themselves and their personal bottom dollar.
10. Editor says:
10 April 2014 at 8:11 AM
That's all very good and well, #6, but probably illegal now, for good reason. Stop trying to defend slave labour. Pay interns.
9. Anonymous says:
9 April 2014 at 6:44 PM
I think this will leave more positions for young j-school people, I would hear about situation where a j-school student wanted an internship but wouldn't get it because a fashion school graduate decided he or she wanted to work at a magazine.
8. Anonymous says:
9 April 2014 at 4:10 PM
Sorry if I talk about the elephant in the room.
The charm for weak-willed editors in having unpaid interns do the work for them is precisely because they are not skilled professionals with prior experience doing and on the payroll. They won't challenge you. They won't correct you. They have no job description.
If they act independently and show you up, you can just assign them even more mundane duties. If they complain, you can kick them out. They are not employees. They have no protection. You can fire them without cause. They have kiss your ass! PERFECT!!
7. Anonymous says:
9 April 2014 at 11:33 AM
#2: I think the more interesting thing is that people would rather work for free than work for some of the publications that are out there. Glad the way to make those jobs more attractive is to make everything else comparatively even worse.
6. Anonymous says:
9 April 2014 at 9:20 AM
As someone who has hired and worked with co-op students (never interns, but rather co-op placement students) my general rule is to only bring someone into the publication if there is a viable path to an entry-level position (whether with my own publications or elsewhere if I know of a pending opening that I can guide the aspiring journalist towards). In the past, the publications where I have hired co-op students didn't always have openings available, but as long as the student proved to be competent during their co-op period I would assist them in finding an entry-level position at the end of their schooling or co-op term.
That's how I got my start - with an editor and a publisher who kept me on as a regular freelancer following my (J-school) co-op placement. I figure I should do the same, when I can, to help ensure we have properly trained journalists available to the industry in future.
If the goal is to help someone into the industry, then there should not be a problem with unpaid co-op or internship on-the-job training. If there's not going to be a job at the end of the tunnel, or at least a reasonable prospect of a job at the end of the (unpaid) tunnel, then the employer is misusing the system for their own financial gain, and that needs to be stopped.
If a publication cannot afford to pay the people who create the content, then the publication should not exist, because clearly the revenue generation side is not strong enough for a publication to exist in that market. Publications that find themselves only focusing on cost cutting to stay in the black need to start looking at the other side of their ledger. Cutting can only go on for so long, and in my experience if time is spent on training and guidance for sales staff, revenues do come up, reducing the reliance on budget trimming to keep profitable.
5. Anonymous says:
9 April 2014 at 8:59 AM
Making money on the backs of unpaid interns is horrendous! Just a way for the Publisher to cut back on expenses while claiming they are giving experience to the intern. There used to be a thing called Apprenticeships for Trades-People and even they got paid. Imagine working full-time and having expenses and travel and your employer doesn't pay you...If your future employer tells you that you need to work for free because they can't afford to pay you, that should be warning enough that your at the wrong company or career!
4. Al says:
8 April 2014 at 11:04 AM
Rogers Media made $161 million in profits but ditched their unpaid interns instead of paying minimum wage.
3. Anonymous says:
8 April 2014 at 10:16 AM
Masthead: Yesterday's news tomorrow.
2. Anonymous says:
7 April 2014 at 10:30 PM
Getting rid of unpaid internships, including those affiliated with school programs, will be a huge benefit to small publishers.
Ever since the large, downtown publications jumped on the unpaid intern bandwagon, trade and small specialty magazines have not been able to attract interns, paid or unpaid.
If Toronto Life et al refuse to pay minimum wage it will level the playing field for smaller pubs who are happy to pay, but to date only attract those who were not accepted to the bigger places.
The level of candidates for entry level positions (paid) will now be higher since unpaid internships at the prestige publications were getting the pick of the litter.
Ban free internships and improve the quality of Canadian magazines across the board. After all Canada's magazine industry is much bigger than Toronto Life.
1. Anonymous says:
7 April 2014 at 8:19 PM
How much money do Douglas Knight and Shelley Ambrose earn? What about executives at Canadian Geographic and Rogers (the ones who are still there, anyway)? Disclose their salaries beside their quotes about not being able to afford to pay interns. Kind of makes it look like they're profiting on the backs of others. Which, kind of, they're doing.
Also, as an aside, can we stop comparing unpaid internships to slave labour, please? If you really can't see the difference between the two, kindly Google "slavery" and go from there.
After that it was a great idea to mentor these eager 20-(approaching 30) somethings.
I don't think #6 was defending unpaid internships at all, but rather trying to show the nuance and difference between traditional on-the-job student training (for aspiring journalists in co-op programs) and what it has morphed into at many publications (i.e. an unscrupulous way for companies to reduce their labour expenditures).
Of course, publishers won't pay for that, will they?
The charm for weak-willed editors in having unpaid interns do the work for them is precisely because they are not skilled professionals with prior experience doing and on the payroll. They won't challenge you. They won't correct you. They have no job description.
If they act independently and show you up, you can just assign them even more mundane duties. If they complain, you can kick them out. They are not employees. They have no protection. You can fire them without cause. They have kiss your ass! PERFECT!!
That's how I got my start - with an editor and a publisher who kept me on as a regular freelancer following my (J-school) co-op placement. I figure I should do the same, when I can, to help ensure we have properly trained journalists available to the industry in future.
If the goal is to help someone into the industry, then there should not be a problem with unpaid co-op or internship on-the-job training. If there's not going to be a job at the end of the tunnel, or at least a reasonable prospect of a job at the end of the (unpaid) tunnel, then the employer is misusing the system for their own financial gain, and that needs to be stopped.
If a publication cannot afford to pay the people who create the content, then the publication should not exist, because clearly the revenue generation side is not strong enough for a publication to exist in that market. Publications that find themselves only focusing on cost cutting to stay in the black need to start looking at the other side of their ledger. Cutting can only go on for so long, and in my experience if time is spent on training and guidance for sales staff, revenues do come up, reducing the reliance on budget trimming to keep profitable.
Ever since the large, downtown publications jumped on the unpaid intern bandwagon, trade and small specialty magazines have not been able to attract interns, paid or unpaid.
If Toronto Life et al refuse to pay minimum wage it will level the playing field for smaller pubs who are happy to pay, but to date only attract those who were not accepted to the bigger places.
The level of candidates for entry level positions (paid) will now be higher since unpaid internships at the prestige publications were getting the pick of the litter.
Ban free internships and improve the quality of Canadian magazines across the board. After all Canada's magazine industry is much bigger than Toronto Life.