If there is ever a reason not to take an unpaid internship.

There is a shortage of good architects in Manitoba (where the article originates from). Feel free to move, salaries are higher I've been told.

leads to some very interesting reading, haven't found a solution anywhere though

Non Sequitur I'm in Manitoba. It's difficult to compare salaries across different geographical areas and markets. I've heard some depressing stories from more saturated markets like Toronto and Vancouver.

Bowling-Ball, I mentioned Manitoba above because the link was from a Winnipeg based website. I have a colleague who found great employment in Winnipeg straight out of grad school. He eventually left (honestly, it's damn cold up there) but it then took him several years to come back to what his starting salary was. You are however correct about the larger Canadian cities. All sorts of talented designers are flocking to Vancouver, Toronto & Montreal and competing for low-level jobs. Other cities, like mine (Ottawa), cannot retain enough talent to compete and weed out the D-list designers.