Canada Volunteerism Initiative - Final Report
Introduction
The importance of volunteers to our quality of life cannot be overstated. We see them: in our hospitals and at our museums; coaching our children in sports and the arts; protecting our communities, the environment and wildlife; providing services for the elderly; helping out in schools; caring for the under-privileged; fighting fires and conducting emergency search and rescue operations; helping out at major events like the Canada Games; giving blood; working in food banks and on the streets with the homeless; as well as sitting on boards of voluntary organizations. Many of the services we take for granted would not be available without volunteers. We recognize and thank them once in a while, but do we fully realize, appreciate and acknowledge the contribution they make to our quality of life?
The Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI) was jointly launched by the sector and the Government of Canada in June 2000 to enhance the voluntary sector's ability to meet the challenges of the future, as well as to strengthen the relationship between the sector and the Government of Canada in order to serve Canadians more effectively.
The National Volunteerism Initiative Joint Table (see Appendix A for the membership of the Joint Table), one of six such tables established under the VSI, was asked to examine what was needed to encourage more Canadians to participate in voluntary organizations, to improve the ability of organizations to benefit from the contribution of volunteers, and to enhance the experience of volunteering. This was a daunting task, given that there are more than 175,000 voluntary organizations in Canada meeting a diverse set of needs.
This report of the work of the Joint Table presents proposals for the Canada Volunteerism Initiative (CVI), which will serve as a lasting legacy of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV). The proposals outlined in this report were developed over the past year based on discussions with hundreds of organizations and experts across Canada and worldwide, meetings of the Joint Table, discussions with other VSI Joint Tables, an environmental scan of existing research, as well as the findings of the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP). It should be noted, however, that this report represents a summary overview rather than a definitive assessment of volunteerism in Canada.
