volunteering at united church of Canada

[desktopgold]

hello all , this wait has been excruciating for all , I attend church at a local united church and am interested in doing a websit for our church for free , just because i find it easy and i have the time . my question is we are doing family spousal sponsorship and have a visitor record good for 6 months . im wondering if it would be ok to do a website for them , as were were told at the border were were not allowed to work or volunteer , or study or anything but breathe , i asked this in the visitor section and got an answer from a skilled person who said that no i could not do them a free website , but im so board and feel like helping them it would be great and it is a church

 

[chakrab]

hello all , this wait has been excruciating for all , I attend church at a local united church and am interested in doing a websit for our church for free , just because i find it easy and i have the time . my question is we are doing family spousal sponsorship and have a visitor record good for 6 months . im wondering if it would be ok to do a website for them , as were were told at the border were were not allowed to work or volunteer , or study or anything but breathe , i asked this in the visitor section and got an answer from a skilled person who said that no i could not do them a free website , but im so board and feel like helping them it would be great and it is a church

you can only volunteer for something that wouldn't be paid for otherwise.

 

[zardoz]

hello all , this wait has been excruciating for all , I attend church at a local united church and am interested in doing a websit for our church for free , just because i find it easy and i have the time . my question is we are doing family spousal sponsorship and have a visitor record good for 6 months . im wondering if it would be ok to do a website for them , as were were told at the border were were not allowed to work or volunteer , or study or anything but breathe , i asked this in the visitor section and got an answer from a skilled person who said that no i could not do them a free website , but im so board and feel like helping them it would be great and it is a church

Unfortunately, this would be illegal work as it's a job for which a Canadian or PR COULD be paid. There are lots of web designers in Canada that would be eligible for this work as a commercial commission.

 

[Shanbrazil]

Jumping in here..

So if a visitor waiting for pr could then volutneer say as a sunday school teacher or helper for youth group etc? None of these would be paid postions in a church.

 

[zardoz]

That would seem to be reasonable, given the very specific examples quoted.

 

[Shanbrazil]

It sure would be a great way to meet people and practice english, without threatening your visa status.

 

[JessNess]

I would err on the side of caution and say that volunteering is not a good idea. I am in the same position as you, I am waiting for my application to go through and I am bored out of my mind insane, Lol. However, my husband and I make house projects to keep busy like building a dining room table, etc. If you want to do the website, make sure no one knows you're doing it or your immigration status. There's really evil people in the world and the last thing you want is someone making an anonymous phone call to the authorities to report you. Is your expensive application worth the few months of boredom? For me, it's not worth it.

I asked the border agent the kind of volunteer work I could do (I thought maybe an unpaid internship would be ok). He told me literally I could pick up trash on the side of the road and work in a soup kitchen. He basically said any SKILLED volunteering where you have a specific skill that COULD be compensated with money is OFF LIMITS. And in my personal opinion, most people don't know how to build websites without having been taught, so you're definitely offering a SKILLED labor.

Time to start building another piece of furniture, lol….

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I would err on the side of caution and say that volunteering is not a good idea.

It is perfectly acceptable to volunteer as long as you are not taking a paid position from a Canadian citizen or PR.

My partner volunteered with our local hospice while waiting for PR. Nobody within the organization is paid; it is comprised completely of volunteers, from the carers to the board members to the nurses and doctors, so there was no risk of taking a paid job from a Canadian citizen or PR.

 

[JessNess]

It is perfectly acceptable to volunteer as long as you are not taking a paid position from a Canadian citizen or PR.

This is not true according to an immigration officer. I asked the border officer specifically if it was okay that I do an unpaid internship (not compensated via money or goods or benefits) he said "no" because I am offering skilled labor for free. Internships usually are not paid positions either. I was just telling the OP to be cautious and that in the end, if it is breaking the rules and she's reported because someone complained, it's not worth having her application compromised.

Some provinces are probably much more touchy about the rules than others.

 

[screech339]

An unpaid intern is not the same as volunteering. That is a specific job position available to PRs and Canadians, usually graduate students take on for job experience.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

This is not true according to an immigration officer. I asked the border officer specifically if it was okay that I do an unpaid internship (not compensated via money or goods or benefits) he said "no" because I am offering skilled labor for free.

CIC specifically states that internships require a work permit; they do not distinguish between paid or unpaid.

Volunteering is not the same as an internship.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/institutions/work-volunteer.asp

Volunteer activities that are not “work” and do not require a work permit

Volunteer work for which a person would not normally be remunerated, such as a foreign student being a ‘big brother', or ‘big sister' to a child; being on the line at a rape crisis centre. Normally this activity would be part time and incidental to the main reason that the person is in Canada (in this case, to study).

Unremunerated observation of the functioning of a given work environment or occupation (i.e. following a geologist on their sample-gathering trips). In some cases, minor tasks may be performed by the foreign student (such as clerical chores), however there should not a significant contribution to the productivity of the enterprise.

Unremunerated helping of a friend or family member during a visit.

There may be other types of unpaid short-term work where the work is really incidental to the main reason that the foreign student is in Canada and is not a competitive activity, even though non-monetary valuable consideration is received. For instance, if a foreign student wishes to stay on a family farm and work part time just for room and board for a short period (i.e., 1-4 weeks), this would not be considered an activity which requires a work permit.