Volunteering

[kiwi01]

Interested in what types of volunteering people did while in Canada awaiting their application to be processed. I know CIC has quite strict guidelines on what is allowed. Is it always best to ring up their contact centre and get confirmation on if a particular type of volunteering is allowed first?

 

[sashali78]

Interested in what types of volunteering people did while in Canada awaiting their application to be processed. I know CIC has quite strict guidelines on what is allowed. Is it always best to ring up their contact centre and get confirmation on if a particular type of volunteering is allowed first?

Any volunteering which does not have a pay and/or compensation of ANY kind should be good. For example, you volunteer at someone's business or home and they give you free meals or shelter, or do your taxes for free - that might be considered a form of compensation as thus does not qualify as volunteering.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Interested in what types of volunteering people did while in Canada awaiting their application to be processed. I know CIC has quite strict guidelines on what is allowed. Is it always best to ring up their contact centre and get confirmation on if a particular type of volunteering is allowed first?

There is no point in calling CIC. Basically, if Canadians are usually paid to do the position, you can't do it; if there are Canadians doing the position as a volunteer, you can do it too. In my town, there is the food bank, meals on wheels ,vet/shelter help, kids' sports help, town/beach cleanup and many more.

 

[TracyCa64]

Interested in what types of volunteering people did while in Canada awaiting their application to be processed. I know CIC has quite strict guidelines on what is allowed. Is it always best to ring up their contact centre and get confirmation on if a particular type of volunteering is allowed first?

I have been volunteering in Canada for a year at a Long Term Care home for residents with dementia, health and mobility problems. It has been such a wonderful & rewarding experience for me.

 

[kiwi01]

There is no point in calling CIC. Basically, if Canadians are usually paid to do the position, you can't do it; if there are Canadians doing the position as a volunteer, you can do it too. In my town, there is the food bank, meals on wheels ,vet/shelter help, kids' sports help, town/beach cleanup and many more.

Yeah those are the kind of things I was leaning towards doing.

I thought the line becomes more blurry though if for example I was to volunteer in an administrative position for say a shelter or food bank. Or say tutoring at a local library, despite all the people doing it being volunteers, office duties or tutoring seems like what CIC would consider usually not done purely by volunteers unlike meals on wheels etc.

 

[Ponga]

I have been volunteering in Canada for a year at a Long Term Care home for residents with dementia, health and mobility problems. It has been such a wonderful & rewarding experience for me.

That must be a very a rewarding experience, but...are you providing care/assistance that a person would normally be compensated for?

It sounds like it could be a grey area.

Here's what CIC says:

What kind of activities are not considered to be "work"?

An activity which does not really 'take away' from opportunities for Canadians or permanent residents to gain employment or experience in the workplace is not "work" for the purposes of the definition.

Examples of activities for which a person would not normally be remunerated or which would not compete directly with Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents in the Canadian labour market and which would normally be part-time or incidental to the reason that the person is in Canada include, but are not limited to:

volunteer work for which a person would not normally be remunerated, such as sitting on the board of a charity or religious institution; being a 'big brother' or 'big sister' to a child; being on the telephone line at a rape crisis centre. (Normally this activity would be part time and incidental to the main reason that a person is in Canada);
unremunerated help by a friend or family member during a visit, such as a mother assisting a daughter with childcare, or an uncle helping his nephew build his own cottage;
long distance (by telephone or internet) work done by a temporary resident whose employer is outside Canada and who is remunerated from outside Canada;
self-employment where the work to be done would have no real impact on the labour market, nor really provide an opportunity for Canadians. Examples include a U.S. farmer crossing the border to work on fields that he owns, or a miner coming to work on his own claim.

 

[kiwi01]

That must be a very a rewarding experience, but...are you providing care/assistance that a person would normally be compensated for?

It sounds like it could be a grey area.

Here's what CIC says:

What kind of activities are not considered to be "work"?

An activity which does not really 'take away' from opportunities for Canadians or permanent residents to gain employment or experience in the workplace is not "work" for the purposes of the definition.

Examples of activities for which a person would not normally be remunerated or which would not compete directly with Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents in the Canadian labour market and which would normally be part-time or incidental to the reason that the person is in Canada include, but are not limited to:

volunteer work for which a person would not normally be remunerated, such as sitting on the board of a charity or religious institution; being a 'big brother' or 'big sister' to a child; being on the telephone line at a rape crisis centre. (Normally this activity would be part time and incidental to the main reason that a person is in Canada);
unremunerated help by a friend or family member during a visit, such as a mother assisting a daughter with childcare, or an uncle helping his nephew build his own cottage;
long distance (by telephone or internet) work done by a temporary resident whose employer is outside Canada and who is remunerated from outside Canada;
self-employment where the work to be done would have no real impact on the labour market, nor really provide an opportunity for Canadians. Examples include a U.S. farmer crossing the border to work on fields that he owns, or a miner coming to work on his own claim.

Would you agree that helping out at a food bank or animal shelter is purely volunteer based? I think its pretty widely considered that those are not usually remunerated positions.

 

[Ponga]

Would you agree that helping out at a food bank or animal shelter is purely volunteer based? I think its pretty widely considered that those are not usually remunerated positions.

Well...I would tend to agree, but I think it all boils down to what the supervisor says when asked if this position is ever paid and/or offered for work experience.

 

[TracyCa64]

That must be a very a rewarding experience, but...are you providing care/assistance that a person would normally be compensated for?

No, I am not providing assistance that is a position that would be compensated for. They have a "volunteer" program and if I don't show up then the employee responsible for that department does everything by herself. It's not an actual position.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Yeah those are the kind of things I was leaning towards doing.

I thought the line becomes more blurry though if for example I was to volunteer in an administrative position for say a shelter or food bank. Or say tutoring at a local library, despite all the people doing it being volunteers, office duties or tutoring seems like what CIC would consider usually not done purely by volunteers unlike meals on wheels etc.

If Canadians are doing the same position as volunteers, such as a library vounteer tutor program, go for it. It doesn't matter that most tutors are usually paid; the specific position you would be doing in this specific program wouldn't be filled by a paid employee if you weren't there. It would just be another volunteer.

 

[yelloweyedmage]

Is there anyone who was able to volunteer at animal shelters during the wait? Shelter volunteering was a major hobby of mine, so I am interested in continuing it in Canada An aspect which worries me though is many shelters require a signed one year commitment and often times want people to come in once a week, which sometimes might not be possible during this transition phase.

 

[krishnalynn]

Is there anyone who was able to volunteer at animal shelters during the wait? Shelter volunteering was a major hobby of mine, so I am interested in continuing it in Canada An aspect which worries me though is many shelters require a signed one year commitment and often times want people to come in once a week, which sometimes might not be possible during this transition phase.

Immigration wise, you should have no issue. As far as scheduling, you'll have to find a shelter that does flexible drop in. Hopefully they exist near you or you can work something out with the shelter.