Unpaid internships, trial shifts and 'volunteering' for a business in BC and Ontario

When you have no work experience, an offer of "experience" can sound like a good deal. A café asks you to work a free trial shift. A startup offers an unpaid internship. A shop asks you to "volunteer" at the counter.

In BC and Ontario, most of these are jobs, and you should be paid. This guide explains when unpaid work is legal, when it isn't, and how to get paid if you already worked for free.

We checked these facts on October 13, 2026. Laws change, so follow the links to the official pages for the latest details.

The rules at a glance

A quick test

Before you agree to work for free, ask yourself:

1. Whose organization is it? A business that sells things to make money, or a charity, non-profit or public body like a library?
2. Who benefits? Does the business get work it would otherwise have to pay for?
3. Would a paid employee normally do this? Serving customers, making drinks, stocking shelves and cleaning are all normal paid jobs.

If it's a business, it benefits, and paid staff normally do the work, it is very likely a job under both provinces' rules.

Real volunteering

Real volunteering means giving your time to a charity, non-profit, community group or public organization, like a food bank or library. Read Volunteering to build experience and references, or find places in Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area.

Ontario. Volunteers are not employees under the Employment Standards Act (ESA). But being called a volunteer doesn't decide it, and not being paid doesn't by itself make you a volunteer. Ontario looks mainly at how much the business benefits from your services, and how much you see the arrangement as a way to earn a living. Getting some kind of payment, like an honorarium instead of wages, doesn't by itself make you an employee (Employee status). Expenses and travel allowances aren't "wages" under the ESA (Employment Standards Act, 2000).

BC. BC's Employment Standards Act and Regulation have no general exemption for volunteers (Employment Standards Regulation). What matters is the work. Anyone an employer allows, directly or indirectly, to do work normally done by an employee is an employee under the Act (BC definitions).

BC's example: in a small restaurant, an employee asks a friend to help wash dishes, without the employer knowing. The friend is still an employee and is owed wages for the hours worked. BC also says any doubt about how the definitions fit a situation is resolved in favour of the worker.

So in either province, a business can't make a paid job unpaid by calling it "volunteering."

Unpaid internships

BC. An internship is on-the-job training an employer offers to give you practical experience. If your duties fit the definition of work, it is work and must be paid. In BC's words, "A practicum is not considered 'work', but apprenticeship training or an internship is" (BC definitions).

A practicum is not work when it is part of a formal education program at a public or private post-secondary school, the curriculum requires it, and it leads to a certificate or diploma. Separately, the Act doesn't apply to high school students in a work study, work experience or occupational study class at a school under a school board or an independent school authority (Employment Standards Regulation, section 32).

Ontario. Being called an "intern" or "trainee" doesn't decide whether you're an employee. If an employer trains you in a skill its employees use, you are generally an employee and must be paid. Employers are not allowed to treat employees as if they are not employees (Employee status).

The ESA doesn't apply to people in these school programs (Employee status; Employment Standards Act, 2000, section 3):

• High school students doing work under a work experience program authorized by the school board that runs their school
• People working under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or a university
• People working under a program approved by a career college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005, if the program meets the criteria set by regulation

Older articles online may describe a different test for unpaid trainees. Ontario replaced its trainee rules with the skill test above on January 1, 2018 (Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017).

Banks, airlines and other federally regulated employers

Some employers follow federal labour standards, not BC or Ontario rules. They include banks, airlines and airports, telephone, internet and cable companies, radio and TV, Canada Post, and railways, trucks and buses that cross provincial or international borders (federally regulated industries).

At these employers (interns and student interns):

• An intern is treated like an employee and must be paid at least the minimum wage.
• An internship can be unpaid only if you are a student intern. You must meet every condition, including: you are enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary school or a vocational school, the internship fulfils your program's requirements, its main purpose is for you to gain knowledge or experience, and you give the employer your school's documents before you start.
• Unpaid student interns can't work more than the standard hours of work, unless they agree to a modified schedule. They still get rights such as breaks, rest between shifts and time off on general holidays.

Trial shifts and "working interviews"

Some employers ask you to work a shift before they decide to hire you. In both provinces, this is work.

BC. Training that must be paid includes trial periods for job applicants. BC's example: an employer requires an applicant to work a four-hour shift to see if they can handle the work. The applicant is an employee and is entitled to be paid. If you work for the employer's benefit while being evaluated, you must be paid, even if you don't get the job (BC definitions).

Ontario. Since March 21, 2024, a person who does work for an employer during a trial period is an employee under the ESA, and the hours count as work time. This applies when the skills tested are ones the employer's employees use, or could use if the business has no other employees (Hours of work). Ontario's example is a restaurant job candidate who waits tables on a trial shift: an employee, even with no job offer (Employee status).

A short test is different. In BC, a test given to applicants as part of an interview, like a word processing test, is not work (BC definitions). If you are asked to serve real customers or do real work "to show your skills," that looks more like a trial shift. When in doubt, ask the employment standards office in your province.

Training

BC. Any training the employer asks you to do, for the benefit of the employer or its business, is work. This includes training before you start regular work, even away from the workplace (BC definitions). But training for a "portable" certificate or licence you can use with many employers, such as FOODSAFE, is not work. Getting a certificate an employer requires before it hires you, such as first aid, isn't training either. Read FOODSAFE and Serving It Right in BC and First aid certificates for work in BC and Ontario.

Ontario. Time an employee spends in training that the employer or the law requires counts as work time. Training that neither the employer nor the law requires for your job, like a course you choose to take to qualify for a promotion, doesn't count (Hours of work).

International students, temporary workers and visitors

Immigration rules have their own meaning of "work." For temporary residents, IRCC says work includes unpaid activity in a job you would usually be paid for, or that would be valuable work experience for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, such as an unpaid internship. You usually need a work permit to work in Canada (IRCC).

So before you say yes, check whether you have a permit that lets you do this work. Read Volunteering as a newcomer.

Red flags

Be careful if:

• A café, shop, startup or other business asks you to "volunteer" doing the work its paid staff do.
• You are offered an unpaid trial shift, "trial week" or "working interview."
• Training the employer requires is unpaid, before or after you are hired.
• A business posts an "unpaid internship" or "volunteer" role, and no school program is involved.
• You hear "Work for free now, and we'll hire you later."
• You are asked to pay for a placement, training or a uniform. Read Job scams that target first-time job seekers.

What to say. You can stay friendly and still protect yourself: "I'd be happy to do a trial shift. Is it paid at your regular hourly rate?"

If you already worked without pay

1. Write it down now. Note the dates, start and end times, what you did, who asked you, and the business's name and address.
2. Save proof. Keep texts, emails, the job posting and your schedule.
3. Ask for your pay in writing, if you feel safe doing so.
4. Make a complaint or claim. Don't wait, because some time limits are only 6 months.

• BC. You can complain online in about 15 minutes, and there is no fee. Employers aren't allowed to intimidate or discriminate against you for making a complaint (complaint process). Questions first? Contact the Employment Standards Branch. By phone, someone can help you in the language of your choice.
• Ontario. You can file online or with the PDF claim form (filing a claim). Your employer can't fire you, suspend you, cut your pay or threaten you for asking about your ESA rights or filing a claim (reprisals).

Next steps

• Know your rights: Your rights at work in BC and Your rights at work in Ontario
• Prepare for hiring: Your first job interview and Group interviews, job fairs and hiring events
• New to Canada? Read Your first job in Canada as a newcomer
• Find real volunteer roles: Volunteering to build experience and references and our volunteer directory
• Ready for paid work? Browse entry-level jobs in Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area