Summer jobs, Student jobs

Hiring: Community Gardens Intern – 2 Positions
Type: age 30 & under / summer
Organization: Urban Bounty
Location: This position is in-person and based out of the Urban Bounty office in Paulik Park in Richmond, BC. Travel around Richmond is required for fruit picks and assessments and events (access to a reliable vehicle is required).

Urban Bounty, formally known as Richmond Food Security Society, is a registered charity with a vision to support healthy people, the community, and the environment by cultivating a resilient local food system through education, advocacy, and community-building initiatives. We connect people with where their food comes from, support local food systems, and promote environmental stewardship through hands-on programs, workshops, and events.

We are a small team of staff supported by volunteers, all passionate about organic growing and food security. We live the values of the Richmond Food Charter, and courageously engage our community to address challenges. We build community, have fun doing it, and hope to create long-term, tangible, systemic results.

We run 5 core programs:

1. Community Gardens: We build and maintain safe, inclusive, welcoming community garden spaces to help people grow. Garden plots are located on public City land, and stewarded by a mixture of individual gardeners, community organizations, and volunteers.
2. Wellness in the Garden: Gardening has demonstrated benefits for individual and community health, which we promote through creating therapeutic, shared gardens and interactive events.
3. Urban Food Forestry: We coordinate volunteers to harvest from urban fruit trees to promote food access and mitigate food waste. We also plant and maintain Community Food Forests which are open to harvest by the public – inspired by permaculture teachings and by the long local history of Indigenous Coast Salish Forest Gardens.
4. Living Soil Land Stewardship: Soil is the foundation of any garden. We run educational programming on environmentally-sound techniques, such as composting and cover-cropping, to take care of soil so it takes care of us.
5. Seed Security: Food security starts with seeds. We manage a Seed Library and Seed Donation program to increase access to high-quality, locally-adapted seeds in our community. We also run educational programs, demonstration gardens, and our annual March Seedy Saturday festival to empower gardeners to save seeds for climate resilience, food sovereignty, and our collective future.

Requirements:

These positions are supported by the Canada Summer Jobs Program. For funding, the candidate must be:

• Be between 15 and 30 years of age at the beginning of the employment period
• Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment and
• Have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations

Other job-related requirements:

• Holds a current Class 5 driver’s licence that allows you to drive in BC, Canada. Must provide a BC Driver’s Abstract free from driving convictions and prohibitions.
• Access to a reliable vehicle to travel to garden sites and events along with transporting supplies, including but not limited to: garden tools, such as weedwhackers, shovels, rakes, hoes, and trowels; and event materials such as tents and tabling materials. Mileage will be reimbursed at the CRA mileage rate (currently $0.73 cents/km).
• Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends.

• Able to: work in an outdoor environment in various weather conditions; perform gardening tasks with equipment including shovels, pitchforks, and weedwackers; lift items such as bags of soil (maximum of 35 pounds)
• Proficient with Google Suite, Microsoft Office, and ability to learn new technologies.
• Have or ability to get:

  • Criminal record check with vulnerable sector search ­ ­

  • Emergency First Aid

• Must have experience or an interest in urban agriculture, Land and Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture, Environmental Science, or Horticulture.

Working with the Land Stewardship Coordinator, the interns will assist with the Community Gardens Program. This will include engaging with plot users, data entry, fieldwork to support the general maintenance of the community gardens, and support during garden reviews, events and workshops. The candidate should be comfortable working in close contact with our members and have good communication and problem-solving skills.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Engage with gardeners, assist in maintaining all community garden locations, and enjoy being physically active.
• Support the coordinator during garden rounds, events, workshops, and assist with fruit picks as needed
• Support administrative tasks such as data entry, email communication, survey evaluation, and reports
• Record and track program impact

• Exercise exceptional organizational and interpersonal skills
• Assist with compelling content for web and social media channels to promote programs and initiatives and to story-tell community experiences around food, culture, migration, and sustainability

Location

This position is in-person and based out of the Urban Bounty office in Paulik Park in Richmond, BC. Travel around Richmond is required for garden visits and maintenance and events (access to a reliable vehicle is required).

Position #1

• Start date: June 2, 2026
• End Date: July 26, 2026 (8 weeks)

Position #2

• Start date: July 6, 2026
• End Date: August 28, 2026 (8 weeks)

Hours: 35 hours per week, for a maximum of 280 hours. Hours are typically Mon-Fri 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM however, there will be events on the weekends, so availability to work Saturdays and Sundays is necessary.

Pay: $19.00 plus 4% vacation pay paid out each pay period.

How to apply

Send your cover letter and resume to the attention of the Hiring Team at info@urbanbounty.ca with the subject line - Canada Summer Jobs Community Gardens Internship - Position #1 or #2. Please indicate which position you are applying for if you have a preference.

Please mention you saw this at rcen.ca or goodwork.ca.

Interviews will begin mid-May, so candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible but the posting will remain up until the jobs are filled.