The advocacy group representing Canadian students and interns has withdrawn from the federal government’s consultations on how to improve protections for young workers because the proposals will allow unpaid internships, the Star has learned.

If implemented, the changes to the Canada Labour Code would permit unpaid internships of up to four months in federally regulated sectors like banking and telecommunications — so long as the position is “primarily for the benefit of the intern” and does not replace a paid position.

But advocates say the proposed guidelines are a recipe for exploitation.

“Essentially what the federal government is going to be allowing here is for four-months unpaid probationary periods for all new hires,” said Andrew Langille, general counsel for the Canadian Intern Association.

On Monday, the organization wrote to newly appointed Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk to express “grave concern” over the proposals, which were initiated under Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.

“We are appealing to you to immediately halt the implementation of the loopholes established by the former government,” the letter reads.

It goes on to say that the “vast majority” of participants in the government’s consultations opposed any kind of unpaid internship except when in exchange for academic credit, but so far the Canada Labour Program has indicated the concerns are “out of the scope of its authority.”

“I think we need to give young people the same protection that other workers have in the workplace,” said Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, the umbrella organization representing 3.3 million workers across the country.

In a statement to the Star, the Ministry of Employment and Social Development said it was “consulting with Canadians about further regulatory amendments … to clarify the conditions for an unpaid internship,” and said it encouraged all stakeholders to participate.

But in its letter to the employment minister, the Canadian Intern Association said it no longer saw the value of participating in the process while its main concerns go unheeded.

“We are not interested in haggling over the minutiae of the degrees of exploitation (such as number of sick days) for unpaid workers. In fact, we believe it is reckless for our organization to continue to take part in these discussions,” the letter says.

Josh Mandryk, the executive director of the Canadian Intern Association, said the proposals were also at odds with the new Liberal government’s commitments to youth job creation.

“The government needs to immediately halt this process and go back to the drawing board,” he told the Star.

Until recently, the federal labour code was silent on the matter of internships. Last year, some changes were introduced to provide health and safety protections for interns under the law.

But Langille said proposed guidelines around when an unpaid internship would be legal simply legitimize free labour at federally-regulated companies that are often hugely profitable.

The Star has previously reported on Bell Canada’s extensive unpaid internship program, which was eventually forced to close.

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In provinces like Ontario, unpaid internships are almost always illegal unless they are in exchange for an academic credit.

“In effect what this unpaid labour does is really scars the future economic prospects and employment prospects of an entire generation,” Langille said.