Some do, and some don’t. It all depends.  

The purpose of the practicum largely determines whether the trainee will be paid: 

-    Trainees who are in the workplace to practise skills learned in the classroom already have the knowledge to perform certain real job-related functions in the company. The company is responsible for assigning them tasks that correspond to their level of training. In other words, the trainee performs productive work and thus receives a salary.  

-    When trainees are in the workplace to learn part of their program of study, they are not usually paid. In this case, the role of the company is to show the trainees how to perform tasks in order to complement their classroom learning. However, before sending students to the workplace, the school must ensure they know enough to be placed in a real work situation. 

For your information …

-    Remuneration is required for trainees in a cooperative education program (see FAQ 13).  

-    Trainee salaries increase with each successive practicum. For the third practicum, trainees are generally paid slightly less than a recent graduate, since they have already completed about 80 percent of the program of study.  

-    The school’s practicum coordinator can give you information about salaries paid to trainees in particular industries or types of business. For some industries or types of business, parity committee, corporations or professional associations can provide information about entry-level salaries for graduates in the trade or technology. The Centre de liaison entreprises-cégeps[1] can help you determine salaries for trainees who are college students. 

-    If a company decides to hire a student outside the work-study program schedule, this constitutes student employment and is not part of the practicum; the salary is then determined between the employer and the student. Please note that in this case the student no longer has trainee status and the company is not entitled to training tax incentives (see FAQ 11).

[1].             You can reach the Centre de liaison entreprises-cégeps (CLEC) at 1 800 785-CLEC.