Hi everyone, I'm here in Montreal, Quebec waiting for my work permit to be approved. Presently , I need some place to go volunteer in keeping myself busy. *Any recommendation? I'm fluent in English and little in French.
Looking for place to volunteer
- Thread starter Eric The Refugee
- Start date
Little French may restrict you a bit. If you have a religion, look at your church/synagogue/mosque/etc. They generally always need volunteers. Look at shelters, food banks, meals-on-wheels, soup kitchens or any organizations that assist the homeless and less fortunate. Animal shelters are another good one; they are generally always looking for people to walk the dogs
. Blood donor clinics, kids organizations (will likely require a police check), senior's/nursing homes, hospitals, Habitat for Humanity, etc. There are so many opportunities.The key is to ensure that whatever you are doing, that there are Canadians doing the same thing as volunteers.
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I disagree with this. True volunteer positions do not require a work permit and in a city the size of Montreal, there are probably thousands of such positions.
If OP claimed asylum he should be receiving his work permit pretty quickly. In many cases it is safer to wait a few weeks versus having to differentiate where it is safe to volunteer and where a Canadian could be employed. In his situation it is always best not to do anything that could damage his chances at asylum and a few weeks is nothing. By the time you contact an organization and do an interview or orientation it is often many weeks before you actually volunteer. Assume employment will be a priority so by the time volunteering is arranged he may have his work permit. Harder than you’d think just to show up and volunteer these days.
I volunteer with a variety of organizations and still disagree. It is not hard to differentiate between work and volunteering and most places are so desperate for volunteers, that they take people on within days or less, unless police checks are required.