Intern Agreement
Engages an intern, on terms that say what the arrangement actually is.
A short-form agreement that documents the terms of an internship, including whether the position is paid, its duration, supervision, and IP ownership over anything the intern creates. Unpaid internships are tightly restricted under Canadian employment law, so getting this structured correctly matters.
- Business days
- 1–5Business days
- Lawyer reviewed
- 100%Lawyer reviewed
- Surprise bills
- $0Surprise bills
What an Intern Agreement should include
Status and pay — whether the intern is an employee and is paid, addressed directly rather than left implicit.
Duration and hours — the period and the expected schedule.
Learning component — what the intern is there to learn, and who supervises.
Confidentiality and IP — the same protections you would want from any contributor.
Academic credit — any school or program requirements the placement has to satisfy.
End of placement — how it concludes, and whether it can lead to an offer.
When you need one
Before an intern starts. The important question is upstream of the document: whether the placement is employment under the employment-standards legislation that applies to you, because unpaid internships are permitted only in limited circumstances and those circumstances differ by province.
How Ruby drafts it
Tell us what you need
Describe the agreement, your business context, and how fast you need it. A few smart questions, not a legal questionnaire. Your price and turnaround are confirmed before anything starts.
Ruby drafts it
Once pricing is confirmed a qualified Ruby lawyer is assigned to your file, and the first draft is built from your answers and real Canadian statute.
A licensed lawyer reviews every line
A lawyer licensed in Canada reviews and finalizes the document before it reaches you, and writes the plain-language summary that comes with it.
Signed, stored, and yours to revisit
You get the final agreement and its summary, stored so you can come back to it rather than hunting through email for the current version.
The fee is set before any of that starts. Hourly billing moves as scope does; a flat fee is one number, confirmed in writing, that doesn’t change after the work is done. See how Ruby prices agreements.
Or did you mean one of these?
These get confused with an Intern Agreement often enough to be worth ruling out before you buy the wrong document.
Questions people ask
Only in limited circumstances, and the rules differ by province — several restrict unpaid placements to those tied to a school or training program. Because the consequences of getting it wrong land on the company, this is worth confirming for your province before the placement starts rather than after.
If they will create anything the company wants to own, yes. Interns write code, make designs and produce content like anyone else, and ownership does not follow automatically from the placement.
Often that is the point. Say so in the agreement if it is a possibility, and paper the conversion as a new employment agreement rather than letting the placement quietly continue.
Looking for the plain definition rather than the document? See Intern Agreement in the Ruby legal glossary.
This page is general information about Canadian business law and is not legal advice. Laws differ by province and change over time, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. For advice on your situation, speak with a lawyer licensed in your province.
Need a Intern Agreement?
Ruby drafts it for a flat $299 CAD, confirmed before any work begins, with a licensed Canadian lawyer on every document.