Canadian Internships 160 KEY WORDS. Internship, Practicum, Field placement, Canada Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lori E. Weeks, Ph.D., CFLE, Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE Canada C1A 4P3 (phone: 902-566-0528, e-mail: lweeks@upei.ca). Funding for the project was provided by Volunteer Canada (Grant #CVI-0304-CVI-10). Journal of Teaching in Marriage and Family, Volume 6, 2006 C2006 by the Family Science Association. All rights reserved. CANADIAN INTERNSHIPS IN FAMILY SCIENCE: CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE POSSIBLITIES Lori E. Weeks and Charlene VanLeeuwen University of Prince Edward Island ABSTRACT. This is a descriptive study of internships in Canadian family science undergraduate programs. In addition to a document review of 18 baccalaureate and certificate-level family science programs in Canada, faculty members representing eight Canadian academic institutions participated in interviews. Thirteen (72.2%) academic programs offered required or elective student placements. While similarities existed in the purpose of placements between academic institutions, various structural components of placements varied, including the type of placements offered, student-placement process, academic requirements related to the placements, student supervision, and faculty resources required. In addition, similarities and differences existed between the results from this study and results from previous studies conducted in the United States. Future research questions are identified. A family policy alternatives education approach (Bogenschneider, 2002) is used to identify seven possible directions for the future development of internships in family science. Pre-professional experience has many names and many purposes. Internships, practica, field experience, cooperative programs, experiential learning, community-based learning, service learning, part-time employment, and volunteer work are among the numerous ways that students can gain practical experience during their undergraduate studies (Bayley, 2004; Gronski & Pigg, 2000; Karasik & Berke, 2001; O’Malley & Wilson, 2004; Shumer & Belbas, 1996; Sproles & Sproles, 1996). O’Malley and Wilson (2004) define the practicum as a hands-on experience where students can apply the knowledge gained through their courses, and it is often the student’s first hands-on experience. In contrast, the internship is a supervised field experience of advanced students characterized by a large investment of time and a leadership role in various organizational tasks. In this paper, we focus on internship placements that allow family science