Volunteer Centres in Canada

As you know, all high school students need to have 40 hours of community service in order to graduate. Use this information to discover where your 40 hours can best be used.

Volunteering and Community Hours

What is a Volunteer Centre?

Volunteer Centres are non-profit organizations or groups dedicated to fostering and developing volunteerism in the community as a whole. While other organizations contribute to sustaining our national heritage of volunteering through their programs and outreach, Volunteer Centres serve the broadest membership. Volunteer Centres reach across the non-profit and public sectors to include organizations working in human and social services, health care, education, the arts and recreation – regardless of their source of funding.

• Community Services Council
• Voluntary and Nonprofit Secretariat
• Volunteer centres of Ontario
• Volunteer centres of British Columbia
• Volunteer centres of Manitoba and Saskatchewan
• Volunteer centres of Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon
• Volunteer centres of the Atlantic Provinces
• Volunteer centres of Quebec

What if my community does not have a Volunteer Centre?

Volunteer Centres reflect the needs of the community they serve. Volunteer Centres exist primarily to foster and develop volunteerism in the community as a whole. They engage in four general kinds of services and activities:

1. Promoting volunteerism and raising awareness of the power of service
2. Building capacity for effective local volunteering through management consulting on volunteer programs and training of managers of volunteer resources
3. Providing leadership and advocacy on issues relating to volunteerism and volunteer programs
4. Connecting people with opportunities to serve through recruitment and referral of volunteers to community agencies

Four Main Reasons to Volunteer

1. Make a contribution to society.
2. Share your skills.
3. Support a cause.
4. Do something meaningful with your friends and colleagues.

One of these reasons probably makes sense for you. You may already be working as a volunteer or are thinking about what you might want to do next. Whatever your reason, there are many different opportunities out there – and organizations that need your help.