Student protest in Montreal over unpaid internships

Dozens of university and CEGEP students were protesting against unpaid internships in Montreal on Friday.  

The Coalition de résistance pour l’unité étudiante syndicale (CRUES), which represents 35,000 students across Quebec, organized the three-day strikes.

“Rent is unaffordable, food groceries are unaffordable, and it really feels like students are being punished for wanting to pursue some sort of prospective career path,” said Angelica Antonokopolous, academic coordinator of the Arts & Science Federation of Associations at Concordia University.

Demonstrations were held in Rimouski on Tuesday. In Quebec City, they were held on Tuesday, with additional protests continuing into Wednesday, including a gathering in front of the National Assembly.

Friday’s demonstration marked the last day of strikes in Montreal. 

“Sometimes [interns] just give up their studies to go work and then come back,” said Clémentine, a student teacher who did not wish to share her last name. “We know we’re in a labor shortage so, this doesn’t help society.” 

“This is an unfair barrier to entry for a lot of students that don’t have that kind of money within their families to be able to gain experience while not getting paid for it,” said Antonokoplous. 

Alicia Aubin is a student teacher in Montreal who says she does the same amount of work as teachers and deserves to be accommodated for her time and work.

“We sometimes do 100 per cent of the workload of the teacher. Sometimes he’s not even in the classroom with us and we get no pay, no wage for 100 per cent of the work that we do during like 10 weeks,” she said.

“We’re giving grades to these students, high school and primary students, sometimes even adults that are coming back to school.”

According to CRUES, unpaid internships to fulfil the requirements of an education program are more often found in fields of work dominated by women. 

A study by the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques (IRIS) reveals that in 2017-2018, 74 per cent of interns at college and 64 per cent of interns at universities are women. 

“We are in those jobs more because we’re seen as caretakers, mothers, whatever, and therefore, we should love this, it’s like a vocation,” said Aubin.

“We’re made to do this so we shouldn’t get paid, right? But that’s not how that works.”