Software Development Intern

About the Investigative Journalism Foundation

The old Canadian journalism model is dead and it's not coming back. We're building a new model. Digital-first. Radically transparent. Laser-focused on serving the public and speaking truth to power.

The Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) is expanding the breadth, depth, and long-term financial sustainability of investigative journalism in Canada. Canada does not have a dedicated, audience-supported, central bureau of investigative journalism, like ProPublica in the United States. The IJF fills that gap. We strongly believe that our work enhances the right to know of Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

The power of the internet makes it easier for us to combine the beauty of code with the principles of journalism to create public interest databases. We have assembled and constantly update over a dozen databases that make it easy to answer questions like: Who donates the most to each politician nationwide? Which lobbyists get the most meetings? Which charities raise the most money? What do governments purchase, and who wins the tenders?

These databases are just the beginning. We will roll out many more public interest databases in the coming years. And we marry the databases to high-quality data-driven investigations focused on revealing power and influence in Canada.

About this job

This role is funded by an NSERC Applied Research and Development grant, held by Humber Polytechnic in partnership with the IJF. This is a 12 month internship with the potential for extension. Please note that this role is limited to full-time students currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate computer science degree program or a similar technical program in a related discipline at an Ontario post-secondary institution.

The successful candidate will devote 14 hours per week helping to expand our procurement database, which tracks billions of dollars worth of federal contracts that are awarded by government agencies across Canada.

Most of the IJF's team is based in Toronto, but we're happy to hear from candidates based elsewhere in Canada. Successful candidates will be excited about working with a mission-driven nonprofit that uses journalism to strengthen Canadian democracy every day.

What you'll do at the IJF:

• Build and improve web scrapers and data pipelines that collect public records from institutional sources.
• Enhance the IJF's public website, including interactive databases and storytelling features.
• Collaborate with reporters and researchers to support investigations with data extraction, analysis, and visualization.
• Clean, validate and ingest datasets to ensure our databases are up to date and error free.
• Contribute to product and engineering decisions as we design and launch new databases and features.
• Support the tech team on a wide range of technical and operational tasks, depending on your interests and skill growth.

We're looking for someone with experience in one or more of our key technical areas:

• Backend development in Python, especially using Docker.
• SQL database administration, especially with PostgreSQL.
• Frontend development with Typescript and React, especially with
• Experience with web scraping, APIs, or ETL workflows (experience with LLMs a bonus).

What sets you apart:

• You enjoy learning new tools and tackling ambiguous challenges.
• Attention to detail, especially when working with data and public-facing features.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Excitement about working for a mission-driven non-profit.

How to apply:

Please fill out this form or click the
Apply Now
button at the top of the screen. It will ask you for your CV and a cover letter telling us how your skills are a fit for the IJF's mission, as well as links to three projects you worked on which you're particularly proud of. With the links, please include a few sentences outlining what role you played in this project and how it best demonstrates you have the skills outlined in the "we're looking for someone with" section above.

The three projects from your portfolio are by far the most important part of your application.

Not sure you're qualified for this job? Please apply anyway. We're looking for talented people who share our passion for making Canada a better place. Experience matters less than a desire to learn and grow. We're committed to building an inclusive environment.

We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis. The deadline to apply is 
Dec 15, 2025
.

We're looking forward to hearing from you.

— The IJF team