Olympics charged broadcast students fee

Local broadcast journalism students who applied for jobs at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were illegally charged $50 for each application. Reported the Vancouver Sun: “At least $6,000 in fees was collected from cash-strapped BCIT students after 120 of them studying broadcast journalism applied for jobs with Olympic Broadcasting Services, the company established by the International Olympic Committee to broadcast the Games world-wide.”

It turns out charging fees with job applications is considered exploitive and is illegal in British Columbia. The Sun reported that the provincial Employment Standards Branch has launched an investigation, and now the head of Olympic Broadcasting Services says the fees will be returned.