A new study authored by Statistics Canada, “Volunteering in Canada: Challenges and opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic,” based upon the 2018 General Social Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (GSS GVP), measures the contributions of those who have given their time in the midst of one of the largest health, economic and social challenges of our lifetime. While these data are from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they provide insight into challenges and opportunities facing volunteerism in the current situation.

One challenge facing volunteer organizations during the pandemic is that Canada’s most dedicated volunteers are also among those most vulnerable to COVID-19. In 2018, matures (40%) and baby boomers (32%) were more likely than iGens (19%) to be top volunteers, that is, volunteers who contributed 132 hours or more.

Although iGens were less likely than other generations to be top volunteers, they contributed an average of 82 unpaid hours to charitable organizations in 2018 and had the highest overall volunteer rate (52%).

Another challenge during the pandemic is that many of the activities people volunteer for are no longer occurring. Hospitals, for example, have suspended most volunteer programs to protect the health of those involved. Religious, sports and recreation, as well as arts and cultural gatherings and events have also been cancelled, with some activity moving online.

Formal volunteers, that is, those who volunteered on behalf of organizations, dedicated the most hours on average to hospitals (110 hours) in 2018, followed closely by religious organizations (109 hours) and sports and recreation associations (106 hours).

Over 22.7 million people or almost three-quarters of Canadians aged 15 and older (73%) devoted approximately 3.4 billion hours to informal volunteering in 2018, equivalent to more than 1.7 million full-time year-round jobs.

Informal volunteering, which includes directly helping people outside the household or improving the community not on behalf of a group or organization, was more prevalent among iGens (78%) than baby boomers (73%) or matures (59%).