Change to intern program hurts non-profits

P.E.I. non-profit groups say they'll struggle to find interns because of changes to a government-sponsored program.

The provincial government used to pay recent college or university graduates to work as interns with non-profits, but now the focus is on pairing them with private businesses.

Allen Roach, the minister of innovation, said his government made the change to the Community Internship Program in response to a UPEI study on employment and the private sector.

"Where students went with non-profits or public sector, the opportunity for those students to gain any kind of meaningful employment at the end of those was very, very limited," he said.

"This will provide a greater opportunity for employment at the end of the mentorship program."

Native Council won't get intern

But Jamie Thomas, chief of the Native Council of P.E.I., said groups like hers will suffer. She had hoped to hire an intern.

"There are a couple of things that we are still interested in doing that we would have liked the extra hands to help us get through. So we would have applied, most definitely," she said.

But since the program changes, she is unable to do that.

Gemma Koughan, the executive director of Sport P.E.I., said her group would also be affected. She said graduates would lose out, too, as many island sports jobs are with non-profits. 

"If you have a kinesiology background and want to work in sport-management field, as a non-profit organization you don't have funding opportunities to maybe give them a work experience and find out what their skill set is," she said.

"Maybe in the future you could hire them, but you won't find that out without programs such as the community internship."