When Kritika, an international journalism student at Humber College in Toronto, got her field placement in July, she was excited to gain her first professional experience in Canada.

She started her role in website designing and content creation at a non-profit organization on July 2 with enthusiasm. But she says that within a week, the organization called to tell her that her internship was terminated. She held back the name of the organization for fear of repercussions. 

"After applying to so many organizations and almost giving up, I finally bagged one internship with a non-profit organization working towards inclusivity," Kritika told blogTO.

"During the interview, they were really impressed and assured me that I would be interning with them and I was a great fit for the a person they were looking to fill the role," she continued.

Kritika says she was given tasks like building the organization's Wikipedia page, writing articles for the website and planning marketing strategies.

Like her classmates at Humber, Kritika is required to fulfill 200 hours of work-integrated learning by the end of the summer term. She says that she made these terms known to her employer during the interview.

"They laid me off within a week, saying it would be impossible to complete my required hours with them, which was really strange as they did not give me any prior notice or any sort of information about the same. It all just happened suddenly," she said.

She says that she was logged out of the company’s email and other communication channels shortly after the call.

"Later, when my college tried to contact them, they did not reply at all," Kritika said.

She says that it has been a very discouraging experience for her as a newcomer in the Canadian workforce.

"Now, when I have less than a month to complete the required hours for my internship, it is really hard for me to find another. And all this is really scary as completing it is compulsory to complete my program and graduate," she said.

Work placements are an integral part of many programs offered at post-secondary institutions in Canada. They provide a hands-on learning experience, which is especially helpful to new students hoping to make a pathway into their chosen field.

But these instances are not limited to students lacking in-field experience.

Aanchal Nigam, another international journalism student at Humber, has been seeking part-time and freelance work since she landed in Toronto last September. Before moving to Canada, she was a full-time journalist in India for five years.

"I have received offer letters from at least four companies, but I have only been able to do two jobs. But on both, I was laid off, citing financial issues. One was a community newspaper, and they couldn't keep me as a journalist because they were facing funding issues. They gave me a week's notice and told me that they won't be able to continue with me," Nigam said. 

Nigam says that she was with the organization for four months when she was laid off. She then started looking for work again. She withheld the names of the organizations as she still hopes to land freelance gigs with them when the opportunity presents itself.

"I found a company that was very happy to meet me and interview me. The interview process lasted two weeks. They took writing tests and gave me an offer letter," she said.

Nigam says her joy was short-lived as the company "revoked the offer."

"And while I was celebrating, they revoked that offer, citing that the project for which they were hiring me was not in the works anymore," Nigam said.

She says that companies are enabled to do this because they know no one is going to hold them accountable for it.

"It has been happening for a long time now. I don't see any reason except companies not being accountable to job seekers. They know that they cannot be held accountable because we are in a vulnerable position," she said.