Special Events Program Planner 

Location: work from home + optional York University Keele office (not mandatory)

Salary: 25.00 hourly / 35 hours per week

Languages: English 

Terms of employment: Seasonal employment 

Start date: Wednesday 6th July, 2026 (some flexibility)

End date: August 31st

Applications close: Thursday, June 18th at noon

Canada Summer Jobs #5447515 (CSJ posting here)

OPIRG York is hiring a student to lead the creation of our DisOrientation Week series of events that will take place in late September on York Keele campus. DisOrienation Week is a series of events offering an alternative to Frosh Week. The series aims to foster student activism and help build social justice networks.Working with three co-workers and the volunteer Board of Directors this person is responsible for arranging a schedule of 5-12 events, most of which will be collaborations with campus and community partners.

OPIRG York is a student-funded, student-run activist hub on York University Keele campus. Join our team for the summer!

Who can apply for this job? 

The Government of Canada funded this job through the Canada Summer Jobs program. Learn more about the program.

To apply for this job, you must:

• Be aged between 15 and 30 years old on the start date of the job;
• Have a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN); and
• Be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person who has been granted refugee status in Canada.

International students and other temporary residents of Canada are not eligible.

Important: You can apply to multiple jobs, but you can only work one full-time job funded by the Canada Summer Jobs program at a time.

Responsibilities:

• Work with the OPIRG York Board and staff to create a DisOrientation Week social justice program theme and a short description of the theme.
• Create a “Call for Proposals” using a Google Form template from previous years.
• Create and execute a promotional plan to circulate the call-for-proposals. 
• Send individual emails to prospective collaborators. Arrange meetings with current grassroots campus and community partners and liaise with those groups to develop collaborative programming for DisOrientation Week.
• Attend weekly supervisory meetings: reflect on the prior week and set goals for the coming week.
• Complete timesheets on a weekly basis for review in supervisory meetings.
• Attend monthly Board meetings, and offer staff updates to the Board on all work progress. Submit any items requiring Board decision in advance of meetings.
• Work with staff and Board to finalize a DisOrientation Week budget, and create an itemized budget based off of previous years.
• Schedule a meeting to review all DisOrientation Week submissions with supervisors, and create a proposed schedule for the DisOrientation Week program in advance of the meeting.
• Contact all community partners and collaborators from the approved list of proposals, and maintain steady back-and-forth communications until all logistics are finalized.
• Create a final schedule of events, and beautify it using Canva.
• Create a poster design and social media graphics that reflect the program theme in collaboration with supervisor, and potentially an artist.

Qualifications:

• Experience with event planning and coordination.
• Self-directed – ability to work independently with little supervision. You will be accountable to a staff and Board member, and will meet at least weekly, but much of your work will be conducted independently.
• Teamwork – experience working with others in a team to coordinate tasks, plan, share resources, make decisions, and resolve conflicts.
• Justice-oriented – passion for social and environmental justice; some knowledge of anti-oppressive politics is an asset.
• Networking – in collaboration with other staff, network with campus & community groups on potential event collaborations for the start of the fall semester.
• Communication – skillful at speaking, listening and writing.
• Digital skills – understand and use email; social media skills are an asset (especially Canva design).
• Organizational skills – ability to manage a variety of tasks and relationships, and set priorities.
• Knowledge of the York University Keele campus and/or North York neighbourhood is a strong asset.

To Apply: 

 OPIRG welcomes the contributions that individuals from marginalized communities bring to our organization, and invites indigenous people, people of color, poor and working class people and those on social assistance, women, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer folks; transgender, transsexual, intersex and two-spirit people; single parents, members of ethnic minorities, immigrants, people from non-academic backgrounds and people with disabilities to apply. 

We encourage applicants to describe the contributions and experiences they would bring to the OPIRG York organization in their cover letter. No assumptions will be made, only those who identify with a marginalized identity will be considered as such.

Please submit your (1) cover letter, (2) resume to opirgyork@gmail.com by Thursday June 18th, at 12noon. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Research Support Officer 

Location: work from home + optional York University Keele office (not mandatory)

Salary: 25.00 hourly / 35 hours per week

Languages: English 

Terms of employment: Seasonal employment 

Start date: Wednesday 6th July (some flexibility)

Applications close: Thursday, June 18th at noon

Canada Summer Jobs #5447514 (CSJ posting here)

OPIRG York is hiring a student to investigate how community-based research could be implemented within the organization and to prepare a final report for the Board of Directors at the end of their contract.

Community-based research is research that is rooted in the needs, priorities, and knowledge of communities. For OPIRG York, this could mean developing research practices that support student organizing, grassroots campaigns, social justice education, environmental justice work, and collaboration between campus and community groups.

Working with OPIRG York staff, the volunteer Board of Directors, and campus and community partners, the Research Support Officer will explore how OPIRG York can build a sustainable community-based research program. This may include reviewing models used by other PIRGs, student organizations, grassroots groups, and community research centres; consulting with relevant stakeholders; identifying organizational needs; and developing recommendations for future implementation.

The main goal of this position is to produce a final report for the OPIRG York Board of Directors that outlines possible approaches, opportunities, challenges, and next steps for integrating community-based research into OPIRG York’s work.

OPIRG York is a student-funded, student-run activist hub/research organization on York University Keele campus. Join our team for the summer!

Who can apply for this job?

The Government of Canada funded this job through the Canada Summer Jobs program. To apply for this job, you must:

• Be aged between 15 and 30 years old on the start date of the job;
• Have a valid Social Insurance Number, SIN; and
• Be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a person who has been granted refugee status in Canada.

International students and other temporary residents of Canada are not eligible.

Important: You can apply to multiple jobs, but you can only work one full-time job funded by the Canada Summer Jobs program at a time.

Responsibilities

• Research community-based research models that could be relevant to OPIRG York’s mandate, structure, and capacity.
• Investigate how other Public Interest Research Groups, student organizations, grassroots groups, community organizations, and campus-based centres conduct or support community-based research.
• Work with OPIRG York staff and the Board of Directors to identify the organization’s research needs, opportunities, and limitations.
• Explore how community-based research could support OPIRG York’s social justice, environmental justice, anti-oppression, student organizing, and public education work.
• Consult with Board members, staff, volunteers, student groups, campus partners, and community organizations about possible research priorities and collaborative opportunities.
• Identify potential structures for a community-based research program, including possible intake processes, project selection criteria, ethical guidelines, volunteer roles, partnerships, and documentation systems.
• Review existing OPIRG York materials, past projects, archives, campaigns, and programming to identify areas where research support could strengthen the organization’s work.
• Prepare short briefing notes, summaries, and updates throughout the contact to share research findings with supervisors and the Board.
• Attend weekly supervisory meetings to reflect on the prior week’s work and set goals for the coming week.
• Complete timesheets on a weekly basis for review in supervisory meetings.
• Attend monthly Board meetings and offer staff updates to the Board on work progress.
• Submit any items requiring Board review or decision in advance of meetings.
• Prepare a final report for the Board of Directors outlining findings and recommendations for how OPIRG York could implement community-based research in the future.
• Present or summarize the final report to Board members at the end of the term.

Final Report

By the end of the position, the Research Support Officer will complete a final report for the OPIRG York Board of Directors. The report may include:

• A definition of community-based research and how it relates to OPIRG York’s mandate;
• Examples of community-based research models used by similar organizations;
• A summary of consultations with staff, Board members, students, volunteers, and community partners;
• Possible research priorities for OPIRG York;
• Recommended structures for a community-based research program;
• Opportunities for collaboration with York University students, faculty, campus groups, and community organizations;
• Ethical considerations, including consent, accountability, accessibility, anti-oppression, and community ownership of research;
• Resource needs, staffing needs, and potential limitations;
• Short-term and long-term recommendations for implementation.

Qualifications

• Experience with research, writing, organizing information, or preparing reports, summaries, or educational materials.
• Interest in community-based research, activist research, public interest research, social justice research, or grassroots knowledge production.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to explain complex ideas in clear and accessible language.
• Self-directed – ability to work independently with limited supervision. You will be accountable to staff and/or a Board member and will meet at least weekly, but much of your work will be conducted independently.
• Teamwork – experience working with others to coordinate tasks, share resources, make decisions, and resolve conflicts.
• Justice-oriented – passion for social and environmental justice; some knowledge of anti-oppressive politics is an asset.
• Communication skills – skillful at speaking, listening, writing, and asking thoughtful questions.
• Consultation skills – ability to speak with different stakeholders, gather feedback, and identify common themes.
• Digital skills – ability to use email, shared documents, online research tools, spreadsheets, and basic digital organizing systems.
• Organizational skills – ability to manage a variety of tasks, track information carefully, meet deadlines, and set priorities.
• Knowledge of York University Keele campus, North York communities, student organizing, or grassroots community organizations is a strong asset.
• Experience with community-based research, activist research, policy research, archival work, campaign research, or public education is an asset.

To Apply

OPIRG York welcomes the contributions that individuals from marginalized communities bring to our organization, and invites Indigenous people, people of colour, poor and working-class people and those on social assistance, women, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer folks; transgender, transsexual, intersex and two-spirit people; single parents, members of ethnic minorities, immigrants, people from non-academic backgrounds, and people with disabilities to apply.

We encourage applicants to describe the contributions and experiences they would bring to the OPIRG York organization in their cover letter. No assumptions will be made; only those who identify with a marginalized identity will be considered as such.

Please submit your cover letter and resume to opirgyork@gmail.com by Thursday June 18th, 2026, noon. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Location: North York, ON and remote

Salary $22.60, 30 hours per week 

Languages: English 

Terms of employment: Seasonal employment 

Start date: June 13th, 2022

Applications close: Monday 6th, June at 5:00pm

Canada Summer Jobs #3923695

OPIRG York is hiring a student from the Jane-Finch community to help strengthen our current relationships with grassroots community organizations and build new ones. 

This role will offer the opportunity to gain networking and relationship-building experience as well as the opportunity to develop communication, digital graphic design and teamwork skills. The person in this role will receive regular supervisor and mentorship support.

Note: this is a Canada Summer Jobs-funded position. To qualify, applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 30 years.