Community Engaged Learning Placements

NEW495 Available Placements 2024-2025

** Placements listed below that are bolded with an active link are live. Please click on the organization name to view the placement details:

• Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network) – Butterfly is a grassroots and community-led organization supporting and advocating for the rights of Asian and migrant sex workers. It is founded upon the belief that sex workers are entitled to respect and basic human rights. Butterfly advocates for justice for Asian and migrant sex workers and for their safety and dignity.

• The Public Service Alliance of Canada – is a labour union representing nearly 230,000 workers in every province and territory in Canada and in locations around the world. The PSAC placement student will work with Union Organizers, Regional Representatives, and the Education Officer to support workers’ rights campaigns through organizing, education and enforcing union contracts.

• Injured Workers Action for Justice – A diverse group of injured workers who have been fighting for fair compensation and respect from the WSIB (Workplace & Safety Insurance Board) for all workers in Ontario since 2010. The student will work with the Community Organizer at IAVGO Community Legal Clinic and the IWA4J group members to develop and promote membership-driven initiatives that advance the rights of injured workers.

• Food Chain Workers Alliance (Virtual Placement) – A coalition of worker-based organizations whose members plant, harvest, process, pack, transport, prepare, serve, and sell food, organizing to improve wages and working conditions for all workers along the food chain. The placement opportunity provides support to the popular education and research programs with food workers.

• Food Secure Canada – FSC works to amplify the power of diverse voices to transform the food system through dialogue, advocacy and capacity building. Our vision is of a just, healthy and sustainable food system, honouring our relationship to the earth and each other. This is a chance for a student who is passionate about food and who wants to make a sustained difference through public policy.

• Black Urbanism TO (BUTO) – Black Urbanism TO is a not-for-profit organization engaging with black communities, businesses, and spaces in Toronto. BUTO strives to enhance Black community engagement in local development, fostering cultural, economic, and social progress in cherished neighborhoods. BUTO are seeking a dedicated and skilled individual for the position of Community Research Assistant.

• Sundance Commons – an agricultural non-profit that operates at four farm locations in southwestern Ontario. Sundance Commons provide the tools, guidance, and access for new farmers who face barriers to entry in the agricultural sector and land access more broadly. Sundance Commons envisions a regenerative and food-secure world where the equity and agency of farm workers is centered.

• FoodShare (Adult Senior Programming) – An opportunity for a student passionate about food justice – and its intersections with the right to food, racial and environmental justice, reconciliation, body liberation, and anti-poverty work – to gain skills and experience in community food programming with adults and seniors.

• Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) – The umbrella organization for immigrant and refugee-serving agencies in Ontario. OCASI champions equity and human rights for im/migrants and refugees through advocacy, collective action, collaborative planning, research, capacity building, and information and knowledge transfer. This placement is a learning opportunity for a student interested in social justice history in the immigrant and refugee-serving sector using an anti-racism and anti-oppression framework, and advocacy in an umbrella organization.

• Homes First Society – Develops and provides affordable, stable housing and support services to break the cycle of homelessness for people with the fewest housing options. This role will collaborate with managers on database design and research tools and disseminate knowledge across different departments and staff to facilitate program analysis. Overall, the goal will be to support evidence-based decision making and program effectiveness through data collection, analysis, and research related to housing and homelessness-related issues and policies.

• The Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee – A grassroots organization dedicated to creating and implementing public space enhancement projects in the community of Thorncliffe Park. We are looking for a Community Programming Assistant to help with our growing list of programs. This is an opportunity for student who is keen to deepen their understanding of the role of small community organizations (immigrant women led, volunteer run) having a transformative impact upon their neighbourhoods.

• Partners in Health (PIH) – Partners in Health’s mission is to improve the health of the poor and marginalized, provide a preferential option for the poor in health care, and bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them, as well as serving as an antidote to despair. PIH aims to do so working in partnership with the people, based on solidarity, rather than charity alone. PIH are seeking a Community Engagement Assistant who will actively participate in initiatives that advocate for the health and well-being of those most at risk, while also nurturing strong connections with the donor community.

• The Ontario Health Coalition – A non-profit public interest coalition whose mission is to protect and improve our public health care system. The Ontario Health Coalition fights cuts and privatization, and advocates for improvements to public health care in the public interest. The Ontario Health Coalition is looking for someone to assist in their health care advocacy work to protect and improve public health care in Ontario.

• Hart House (Hip-Hop Education Program) – Are you a lover of Hip Hop culture and interested in learning more about the role that women have played? Consider this position if you are passionate about Hip Hop culture, gender, art and representation. Click on the link for more information.

• The Migrant Farmworker Legal Clinic – A project of Justice for Migrant Workers and the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. It is the first known Clinic in Canada that works almost exclusively with migrant agricultural workers. The clinic uses a “law and organizing” mandate, meaning its legal work supplements the systemic advocacy and community organizing of the clinic and J4MW. The Clinic is working to develop its social media profiles, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok to engage migrant farmworkers. Students would have the opportunity to develop content for these channels to provide information, debunk myths about Canada’s migrant worker programs, and foster solidarity.

• Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) Toronto – An intersectional grassroots volunteer-based group at the University of Toronto, with a mandate for action, education, and research on environmental and social justice issues. We seek to empower and educate students and community members by building bridges and providing opportunities for students to connect with community activism and vice versa. There are several possible positions available with OPIRG Toronto as we have a wide range of needs to be filled within our organization. The most important consideration is that your values align with the collective work we are engaged in toward justice and liberation for all.

BELOW PLACEMENTS HAVE BEEN FILLED AND ARE NO LONGER ACTIVE:

• The Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts – initiates and supports the creation and production of art that engages diverse artists and workers at the intersection of art, social justice and labour. This opportunity is for a student interested in labour justice and the role of cultural programming in community building and social action. The ideal candidate will be interested in film and how it can be used to explore issues of labour justice and social action. As well as research skills, the student should have the capacity to critically view a film and to effectively communicate their response to it.
• The Ontario Clean Air Alliance – a small ENGO working for a shift to a renewable electricity future. We do energy policy and analysis, lobby governments, and build public support for a renewable energy system that precludes fossil fuels and nuclear power.
• Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNCTO) – an organization of Chinese Canadians in the City of Toronto that promotes equity, social justice, inclusive civic participation, and respect for diversity. Current priorities are outreaching to the marginalized Chinese Canadian community, building up community capacity, creating intergenerational spaces, and continuing advocacy work on anti-racism. 
• Burma Scholar – Learn about Myanmar, specifically the human rights issues there, and the role of the education sector in providing opportunities for young people there. Work with a small Toronto-based team to create educational program experiences, organize community-based events, and communicate with government agencies like IDRC (International Development Research Centre).
• Caribbean Solidarity Network (CSN) – a Toronto based community organization that focuses on community based political education. The CSN is an organization committed to the principles of Caribbean Liberation and Unity across the region as well as throughout the Diaspora. CSN is currently looking for a community research and outreach assistant to help deliver programming and broaden their reach.

Below placements are not yet active:

• Mining Injustice Solidarity Network – MISN is a grassroots activist group that organizes to draw attention to and resist the negligent practices of Canadian mining companies, in solidarity with impacted communities around the world. This is an opportunity for a student interested in supporting climate justice, Indigenous solidarity, and anti-extractivism to gain skills and experience in grassroots activism and community organizing.

• The University of Toronto Community Radio Inc (CIUT-FM) – CIUT-FM is creating an opportunity for a student passionate about the role of empowering cultures and communities in Toronto to create and share content by podcast and broadcast. This is an opportunity for students who are keen to deepen their understanding of the role of culture expression, content creation and storytelling in community building. This opportunity will provide a better understanding of how community media supports diverse communities.

• Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) is a charitable, non-profit, community-based organization located in Toronto, Canada. We provide safer sex education and services to the East and Southeast Asian communities and support services to persons living with HIV/AIDS and members of the LGBTQ+  communities. An opportunity for a student passionate about health justice and sexual health, mobile populations, and migration, to gain skills and experience in sexual health and HIV prevention program. The student will work side by side with the Asian Migrant Farm Workers’ Project Coordinator to learn about AMFW health and work conditions and see rural Ontario.

• Fred Victor (Front Street location) – Fred Victor is a not-for-profit, multi-service community-based organization that has assisted people living on low incomes in Toronto for close to 120 years. Fred Victor works in partnership with people from diverse backgrounds who face poverty, homelessness, mental health issues, addictions, and/or social isolation to address their needs and hopes and advocate for a more equitable society. This is an opportunity for a student who is passionate about the role of culture in building community, specifically Employment & Training Services, to gain skills and experience in a diverse team of caring professionals.

• Fred Victor (Kingston Rd. location) – Fred Victor is a not-for-profit, multi-service community-based organization that has assisted people living on low incomes in Toronto for close to 120 years. Fred Victor works in partnership with people from diverse backgrounds who face poverty, homelessness, mental health issues, addictions, and/or social isolation to address their needs and hopes and advocate for a more equitable society. One of Fred Victor’s new locations, Kingston Housing has significantly opened possibilities for extending additional housing units in their Scarborough location. The student will assist and support staff, family, other caregivers, medical and other multi-disciplinary providers.

Previous Placements

Check out examples of NEW495 placement opportunities from previous years.

Please note: previous placements are currently inactive

NEW497 Available Placements

NEW497 has been cancelled for the 2024-2025 year. It will be offered at a later date – stay tuned for more details by visiting the Community Engaged Learning Program page.

Check out examples of NEW497 placement opportunities from previous years.

Please note: previous placements are currently inactive