Placements, Internships, and Volunteer Opportunities at STEPS
STEPS receives many requests for placements, research partnerships and volunteer opportunities. In response, we have developed an Expressions of Interest (EOI) submission and review process to identify the placement and research partnerships that we can support. These opportunities have been designed to be in line with the Employment Standards Act, and offer benefits to placement holders such as formal and informal training, mentorship and networking. In most cases, placements are unpaid, though some offer remuneration for specific placement related costs.
In order to provide meaningful opportunities, placements are offered during three 4-month “terms” throughout the calendar year, which have been organized around a typical post-secondary academic year. In our experience, this is the minimum length of time for us to onboard, train and meaningfully engage individuals in our work.
Fall Term
Placement Dates: September to December
Winter/Spring Term
Placement Dates: January to April
Deadline: November 28th
Spring/Summer Term
Placement Dates: May to August
Deadline: April 1st
Placement and Volunteer Benefits
STEPS placements are geared towards creative, energetic, and organized people with a passion for forging new partnerships, supporting artists, clients and collaborators in executing successful cultural projects and engaging people in public art experiences.
Our Commitments
- Skill Development: All placements start with the identification of development goals for the term. Those enrolled in the placement are supported by their supervisors to identify experiences to advance their development goals during their time with STEPS.
- Training: STEPS frequently hosts training sessions for our team, including those enrolled in placements over that term. Topics include, but are not limited to: project management, communications, equity, unconscious bias, accessibility, digital engagement, site safety, risk analysis, artistic techniques, and first aid.
- Mentorship: All placements have a mentorship component, where placement individuals are matched with a staff member to meet with, at least monthly, 1×1 during the term.
- Networking: STEPS is always meeting or attending events with our cross-sectoral stakeholders. Opportunities to participate in these activities are frequently extended to those enrolled in placements through which they forge new professional relationships.
- Feedback: As part of every placement there is a mid-point check-in and final placement review, during which the person enrolled in the placement and their STEPS supervisor provides feedback to the other. This enables us to ensure the placement is a beneficial opportunity, and it offers an opportunity to receive candid feedback regarding performance, which can help identify focus areas for further development.
- References: Individuals who have successfully completed a placement with STEPS become eligible to have the organization serve as a reference for future employment or other opportunities.
- Remuneration: Placements are typically unpaid, as most individuals use placements to fulfill an academic requirement. However, STEPS does cover expenses such as: required training fees, travel, research materials, and for special projects offer honouraria. If any remuneration will be provided by STEPS, this would be outlined in the Placement Terms of Reference.
Placement and Volunteer Opportunities
STEPS offers a combination of ongoing placements, as well as those which are designed around a research or special project. Click the dropdown menus below to learn more about our current placement and project collaboration opportunities (Public Art Placements, Communications Placements, Social Enterprise Placements, Research Projects, Special Projects).
Public Art Placements
STEPS offers Public Art student placements. These placements are ideal for students interested in hands-on experience in public art production, curatorial practice, artist and community engagement, and program coordination, with a focus on equity-informed and community-responsive approaches to creative placemaking.
We typically host up to four (4) placements per academic term, tailored to the student’s interests, skills, and learning goals. Depending on your focus area, you may have the opportunity to gain experience in the following:
- Creative Project Development: Support the development of public art and cultural programming concepts in response to requests from municipalities, BIAs, community agencies, corporate clients, and cultural organizations across Canada.
- Project Coordination & Logistics: Assist with the planning and delivery of public art initiatives, including researching and coordinating with artists, fabricators, and suppliers; sourcing materials and equipment; and providing on-site or virtual logistical support.
- Risk Awareness & Health and Safety: Learn to conduct basic risk assessments related to project planning, including community engagement, site logistics, and health and safety protocols.
- Community-Engaged Programming: Contribute to the planning and facilitation of public-facing events such as artist talks, workshops, unveiling ceremonies, social media takeovers, and community consultations.
- Capacity Building & Outreach: Help deliver programming that supports artist and community development, while building outreach strategies to ensure participation from diverse and equity-deserving groups.
- Stakeholder Communication: Communicate effectively with artists, collaborators, and community members to ensure project goals are clearly conveyed and programming is accessible and well-promoted.
- Creative Storytelling & Documentation: Capture and compile quotes, images, video, and stories from public art projects to support communications, evaluation, and storytelling across digital and print platforms.
- Evaluation & Reporting: Support impact measurement through qualitative and quantitative data collection, and contribute to the creation of internal and external project reports for clients, funders, and community partners.
Marketing and Communications Placements
STEPS hosts Marketing & Communications student placements. These placements are ideal for students seeking hands-on experience in communications, digital marketing, public relations, content creation, and community storytelling, particularly within the nonprofit arts and culture sector. We typically host up to two (2) placements per academic term. These roles are flexible and adapted to students’ interests, learning goals, and existing skill sets. Students are supported by staff through onboarding, mentorship, and access to tools and training.
Depending on your focus area, you may have the opportunity to gain experience in the following:
- Communications and Cultural Content Placement
- Content Creation & Visual Storytelling: Capture and edit visuals (photos, video, testimonials) and contribute to social media graphics, campaign assets, and print materials using tools such as Canva or Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Digital Marketing & Social Media: Assist in writing and scheduling engaging content for STEPS’ social platforms, newsletters, and website, with a focus on increasing audience engagement and reach.
- Audience Research & Segmentation: Conduct research to support targeted outreach efforts, identifying prospective audiences for STEPS programs, public art services, or events.
- Analytics & Performance Tracking: Use tools like Google Analytics, Mailchimp, and Meta Business Suite to monitor performance and inform campaign refinements and quarterly communications reports.
- Communications Strategy Support: Contribute to the planning and execution of marketing campaigns for STEPS programs and services, including copywriting, content calendar updates, and campaign brainstorming.
- Equity-Centred Communications: Apply best practices in accessibility, inclusive language, and community representation across digital and print materials.
- Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship-Building: Assist in maintaining positive relationships with STEPS’ partners, artists, and clients through digital engagement, content collaborations, or cross-promotional support.
- Evaluation & Storytelling for Impact: Collect testimonials, quotes, impact metrics, and evaluation feedback to support case studies, reports, and other impact-focused communications tools.
Social Enterprise Placements
STEPS offers Social Enterprise student placements embedded within our Operations Team. These placements are ideal for students interested in the intersection of business, arts, and community impact (particularly those looking to gain practical experience in areas such as business operations, customer experience, systems optimization, and marketing strategy within a nonprofit social enterprise). We typically host up to two (2) placements per academic term, tailored to the student’s skills, interests, and learning goals. Students are supported through onboarding, mentorship, and access to platforms and tools used by our team.
- Articulating Public Art Value Propositions: Support the development of content and communications that convey the value of public art, cultural planning, and creative placemaking services to diverse audiences — from municipalities to developers and nonprofit partners.
- Customer Journey Mapping & Experience Design: Participate in mapping the client and supplier experience journey to identify touchpoints for improvement, retention, and increased satisfaction across multiple service lines.
- CRM Systems & Relationship Stewardship: Learn how to use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems (such as Salesforce) to organize, track, and enhance relationships with clients, artists, and suppliers.
- Lead Generation & Outreach Strategy: Research and contribute to lead generation activities that support STEPS’ business development goals, identifying potential partners and collaborators across Canada.
- Market Research & Data Analysis: Conduct primary and secondary research using digital and CRM platforms to gather data that informs marketing and outreach strategies, supports decision-making, and improves client experiences.
- Operational Efficiency & Systems Thinking: Identify opportunities to streamline and enhance operational workflows related to client communications, supplier onboarding, or service delivery, with a focus on effectiveness and scalability.
Partnership & Pipeline Research Assistant
STEPS offers Partnership & Pipeline Research Assistant placements that support our national public art and cultural engagement initiatives. This role is vital in identifying and preparing contacts for STEPS’ outbound business development and artist engagement strategies. You will contribute to building STEPS’ network of aligned collaborators, funders, and artists by researching external platforms such as procurement portals, professional directories, and artist databases. These placements are ideal for students interested in business development, cultural planning, artist engagement, and nonprofit sector research.
- Prospect & Artist Research: Use professional networks, procurement sites, and artist directories to identify high-value partners, clients, and artists aligned with STEPS’ services and programs.
- Data Management & CRM Systems: Organize, clean, and enrich records in spreadsheets and Salesforce, including artist profiles and partnership leads.
- Infrastructure & Procurement Insights: Research awarded capital and infrastructure projects to uncover public art, community benefit, or engagement opportunities.
- Artist Database Development: Process inbound artist expressions of interest and conduct proactive research to support the growth and segmentation of STEPS’ artist database.
- Partnership Development Support: Help track emerging leads and assist in campaign planning based on project timelines, sector alignment, and geographic priorities.
- Sector Landscape Scanning: Monitor trends across culture, planning, and development sectors to identify new opportunities that align with STEPS’ strategic priorities.
- Documentation & Reporting: Maintain clear records of findings and contribute summary notes or recommendations for future outreach and engagement.
Research Projects
We love seeing new research that relates to our work. Are you a researcher or graduate student doing research on public art, community arts, public space or placemaking and looking for a community partner?
Researchers interested in collaborating on a project are asked to complete the Placement Expressions of Interest Form and to send an email to Anjuli Solanki (anjuli@stepspublicart.org) with the subject line “Research Request: [YOUR LAST NAME]” and include information about your research project and the role that you envision STEPS playing in the project.
Special Projects
Each year, our team identifies special projects that we are interested in advancing in addition to our general programming for which we seek volunteers or external partners to implement. Our current special projects are listed below. If you’re interested in a placement that is focused on one of these special projects, please indicate it in your submission.
- AI Knowledge Assistant Development
- Measuring the economic impact of public art
- Creating tools to help non-arts organizations host public art and culture projects
- Developing resources for more accessible public art procurement processes and opportunities to increase access for Disabled artists
We only host placements when we are confident we have the capacity to appropriately onboard, train and support individuals to succeed in those placements. This ensures maximum benefit for those enrolled in placements or partnering on a project with us. While we state an approximate number of placements available each term, these are estimated maximums, subject to change and STEPS is under no obligation to host a certain number of placements in any given term.
Placement and Volunteer Format
STEPS is a national charity and social enterprise with partners and projects from coast to coast. We currently have staff working from five provinces and welcome expressions of interest from across Canada.
STEPS is mostly a virtual team. We have an office in downtown Toronto and given the place-based nature of our work, we’re frequently at project sites in the community. Individuals enrolled in placements who reside in southern Ontario may have the option for hybrid placements that combine virtual and in-person experiences. For those located outside of southern Ontario, most placements will be virtual, though there may be some hybrid opportunities available for those residing in communities where we currently have projects. We ask those submitting an expression of interest to communicate their placement preferences and ability to travel to sites.
STEPS can accommodate a range of placement formats and scheduling options. The total number of placement hours and the number of placement hours per week will vary from placement to placement, but the format must be identified before the start date, so that our team can thoroughly assess whether we have the capacity to appropriately support the requested schedule.
Typically, we do not host placements for less than the equivalent of 1 day (8 hours) per week, which we find is the minimum amount of time it takes to provide a meaningful placement experience over a term. We ask those submitting expressions of interest to provide as much information as possible regarding their availability and the specifications of any academic requirements they seek to fulfill in their submission.
Placement and Volunteer Eligibility
We understand that people may want to participate in a placement for different reasons, and we have tried to be flexible with the formats of placements within the constraint that the Employment Standards Act provides.
Our placements are targeted at the following:
- Participants in a placement program approved and operated by an Ontario university, college or private career college
- Newcomers to Canada who are seeking a volunteer opportunity that will help enhance their resume as well as build relationships in the region
- Visitors to Canada who are not legally able to work, but who are seeking a volunteer opportunity while in the country
Expression of Interest (EOI) Submission and Review Process
As STEPS receives a high volume of expressions of interest to take part in placements with our organization, we encourage you to apply early if there is a term that you’re most interested in being placed with STEPS. The deadlines stated at the top of this page are the final date that we can accept expressions of interest to enable us to review and identify the individuals who we can best support through our placement opportunities in a given term.
Expressions of Interest for all placements, research and special project collaborations should be submitted through this online portal.
We typically receive more requests for placements than we can approve. For this reason, we try to identify the individuals and research projects we think we can best support to ensure maximum success with the collaboration. The selection process typically includes a meeting over the phone or video conferencing with a member of our team. We value the energy taken by all interested parties, but we cannot respond to each request individually. If your expression of interest is selected for an interview, someone will contact you by email to arrange a meeting. We endeavour to confirm approved placements one month in advance of the placement start date to allow for you and STEPS to plan accordingly.
Those submissions selected for placements or project collaborations will be provided with a Placement Terms of Reference that outlines STEPS’ commitment to you, and your commitment to the organization over the placement or project term, based on the information that you provided through the submission and review process. This document is not an employment agreement.
We understand that our review timelines may not align perfectly with your own. In the event that you require a confirmed placement in advance of our stated timelines, please email operations@stepspublicart.org with the subject line “Rush Placement EOI [YOUR LAST NAME]” with additional information and we will do our best to accommodate an expedited review of your materials.
STEPS encourages submissions from the full diversity of communities in Canada, including complexities of intersecting identities such as ability, class, gender, race, and sexual orientation. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions from equity-deserving communities, including those who identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), Black, a person of colour, newcomer, Disabled, d/Deaf, and LGBTQQIP2SAA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit, asexual, allies, along with additional sexual orientations and gender identities).
If you require accommodations to apply for this opportunity, please send an email with “Placement EOI Accommodation Request” in the subject line to operations@stepspublicart.org.