· CBC News ·
Montreal resident Matthew Olsen says freelance writing was how he made a living when he was in school. But while the work kept him afloat for three years, it was only a matter of time before he would be forced to leave.
Managers from his digital platform of choice, which is based in the United States, didn’t consistently communicate what was expected of him and other regular contractors, he said, adding they often brought in frequent changes in pay schedules, leaving them without a stable paycheque.
And what’s worse, Olsen said, is that he felt as though he had no one he could turn to for help.
He’s part of a growing subset of Canadian workers who are considered contractors, freelancers and gig workers — all with untraditional employer-employee arrangements and often little to no worker protections,
Lindsay Zier-Vogel, a Toronto-based freelance grant writer and author, said she’s been regularly accepting clients since 2020. While most have paid, she said there have been a handful of times when clients became “vitriolic” when a grant application wasn’t successful — and even failed to pay her entirely.
After posting about the ordeal on Twitter, she said a representative of the Canadian Freelance Union reached out to offer support. If the person hadn’t made themselves known, Zier-Vogel said, she would have taken the hit and lost out on the time spent and the hundreds of dollars in wages.
“It’s really exhausting, and I just don’t have the resources to be chasing the money,” she said.
Nora Loreto, president of the union, a community chapter of Unifor, said it’s common for these types of workers to eat the cost of their labour instead of trying to chase after what’s owed.
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