By Unpaid internships are legal in some cases and not others. In the US, an unpaid intern at a for-profit company is legal only if the internship mainly benefits the intern, which courts decide with a seven factor “primary beneficiary” test; unpaid roles at nonprofits and government are generally allowed. In Ontario, interns are generally employees entitled to pay unless the work is part of an approved college or university program.
This is general information from official government guidance, checked October 23, 2026, not legal advice. The point is to help you recognize when an offer deserves a closer look.
The US rule: the primary beneficiary test
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires for-profit employers to pay employees. The Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #71 explains that interns may or may not be employees, and that courts use the “primary beneficiary test” to decide. The test looks at the “economic reality” of the relationship through seven factors:
- 1
Understanding about pay
Whether both sides clearly understand there is no expectation of compensation. A promise of pay, express or implied, points toward employment. - 2
Education-like training
Whether the training resembles what an educational environment would provide, including hands-on clinical training. - 3
Link to formal education
Whether the internship is tied to your program through integrated coursework or academic credit. - 4
Academic calendar
Whether it fits around your academic commitments. - 5
Limited duration
Whether it lasts only as long as it is genuinely teaching you something. - 6
Complements paid staff
Whether your work supports paid employees rather than replacing them, while giving you significant educational benefit. - 7
No promised job
Whether both sides understand there is no entitlement to a paid job at the end.
The Department of Labor says no single factor decides the outcome. If the intern turns out to be an employee, they are entitled to minimum wage and overtime. A footnote adds that unpaid internships for public sector and nonprofit charitable organizations, where the intern volunteers without expecting pay, are generally permissible.
If you would be doing the same work as a paid employee, for a company that makes money from it, the law is generally on the side of paying you.
The Ontario rule
Ontario's guide to the Employment Standards Act says calling someone an intern or a trainee does not decide whether they are an employee. Someone called an intern will generally be an employee, with the right to minimum wage and other protections, if they receive training from an employer in a skill that the employer's employees use.
The guide lists exceptions where the Act does not apply:
- Work under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or a university.
- Work under a program approved by a career college registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.
- Secondary school students in a work experience program authorized by their school board.
That is why many Canadian co-op and practicum placements tied to your degree are treated differently from an internship you find on your own. Employment standards are set province by province in Canada, so outside Ontario, check the rules where you would work.
Red flags in an unpaid offer
- A for-profit company, with no school credit or school program involved.
- The role description reads like a job: fixed hours, output targets, customer facing work.
- You would be covering for staff who left, or doing work they would otherwise pay for.
- No named supervisor or plan for what you will learn.
- An open ended length, or a “trial” that keeps extending.
- Any request that you pay them, for training, equipment, or placement.
Questions to ask before saying yes
- Is this connected to academic credit or an approved school program?
- Who will supervise and train me, and what will I learn by the end?
- What will I actually do day to day, and would a paid employee otherwise do it?
- How long does it last, and what are the hours?
- Is there any stipend, travel, or meal support?
Get the answers in writing. If they are vague, that tells you something too.
Better options if you need paid work
Unpaid internships favor students who can afford them. If you cannot, you are not out of options:
- Paid internships exist at every level. What they pay, from real postings, is in how much do interns make.
- Paid campus and research roles build the same evidence. See how to get an internship with no experience.
- Programs for early students are often paid. Several are listed in can you get an internship as a first year student.
Common questions
- Are unpaid internships legal in the US?
- Sometimes. At for-profit employers, the US Department of Labor says courts use a primary beneficiary test with seven factors to decide whether an intern is really an employee. If the intern is an employee, minimum wage and overtime apply. Unpaid internships at public sector and nonprofit charitable organizations, where the intern volunteers without expecting pay, are generally permissible.
- What is the primary beneficiary test?
- It is the test courts use under the Fair Labor Standards Act to decide whether the intern or the employer is the main beneficiary of the relationship. It weighs seven factors, including whether pay was promised, whether the training resembles education, whether it is tied to academic credit, and whether the intern's work displaces paid employees. No single factor decides it.
- Are unpaid internships legal in Ontario?
- Generally not, unless an exception applies. Ontario's guide to the Employment Standards Act says someone called an intern is generally an employee if they receive training from an employer in a skill used by its employees. The Act does not apply to work under a program approved by a college or university, or to authorized high school work experience programs.
- Is an unpaid internship worth it?
- Only if it is legal, the learning is real and supervised, it is tied to your program or a nonprofit mission, and you can afford it. If a for-profit company wants you to do work its paid staff would otherwise do, for free, that is a warning sign, not an opportunity.
- What should I do if I think my unpaid internship is illegal?
- In the US, you can contact the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, which runs a toll free helpline at 1-866-487-9243. In Ontario, the Employment Standards Information Centre can give general information. For advice about your specific situation, talk to a lawyer or your school's career or legal services office.
Stop retyping the same application.
Save your answers once. ApplyAgents fills Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, and more.
Get 3 autofills freeNo credit card. You always click Submit.