As a Presbyterian principal at one of the prairie schools observed of an older girl, 'She is as good as any skilled white servant and more willing.' Thanks to Indian Affairs officials and cooperative principals, a number of middle-class families in towns and cities found that to be true.

      Complaints, problems of scandal, and the interference with academic work that the outing system represented led in the twentieth century to limitation and eventually to elimination of the practice. As late as 1943, however, the principal of the residential school at Spanish, Ontario, was complaining that girls who were out at service in Ottawa were lonely and in need of supervision. In addition, 'Mr. Crerar (the minister [of Indian affairs]) would like one of them, I mean, one of the graduates from the Girls' School here.'

      Boys were less of a worry to school officials when they worked outside the institution. Male students most commonly became part of the outing system in seasonal labour, helping area farmers to harvest their crops. The theory behind this practice was that the young men were refining their agricultural skills through practical application, but the youths were obviously a cheap source of labour at a time of peak demand for hands. The other common form of male labour outside the institution was the apprenticeship system, which was most often used in schools located close to towns and cities.

      Even a casual visitor to a residential school would have been struck by the vast amount of work that the students performed. Many of the schools, particularly those like Lebret or even Duck Lake in Saskatchewan that were accessible to public transportation, devoted a great deal of effort to the appearance of their grounds. The elaborate floral gardens at such institutions were maintained by students, though this task was far superior to other more essential work such as toilets and septic tank cleaning - again performed by students.