All students must complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement activities as part of the OSSD diploma requirements. The purpose of this requirement is to encourage students to develop an awareness and understanding of civic responsibility and of the role they can play and the contributions they can make in supporting and strengthening their communities.
Community Involvement hours must fall into one of these categories:
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Not-for-profit: includes voluntary activities for any not-for-profit institution or foundation that would not displace a paid worker.
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For-profit: includes voluntary activities that are charitable-based for any business or organization that would not displace a paid worker. If volunteers are enhancing a product/service being sold/provided by a for profit business designed to make it more attractive and/or a better experience for clients, then it is not in keeping with the spirit of community service and would not be an approved activity.
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Other: community support that you feel warrants consideration. In this case, please submit a brief written summary that explains how this experience meets the spirit and expectations of Community Involvement as identified above.
Please note that the Ministry of Education has also indicated that the following activities will be deemed eligible for all secondary students for their community involvement activities in the current school year:
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Activities that take place during the school day (e.g. walking a younger neighbour or sibling to and from school, helping younger siblings with their homework, etc.)
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Activities that include up to 10 hours of paid work. Students must complete a reflection exercise sharing how their work contributed to service for others (e.g.g grocery work during the pandemic, etc.)
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Activities normally completed at home (e.g. students could help an elderly relative with errands, providing after-school care for a sibling, etc.)
Please submit this form or a paper copy of the volunteer hours from (that can be picked up in the guidance office). Please submit once per volunteer position. If you volunteer in the same position multiple times, you can total all the hours done and submit the form once.
This form is for current EOM students only - if you are not registered with EOM, your submission will be discarded.
Discover Volunteer Opportunities
Here are a few organizations that coordinate or are seeking volunteers in the Ottawa area.
Volunteer Ottawa
Volunteer Canada
Ontario Volunteer Centre Network
SPARK Ontario
OCISO
Youth Employment Strategy
Charity Village
Oxfam Canada
The Boys and Girls Club of Canada
Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB)
Prosperity Project
Here are some suggested ways of engaging virtually with your community:
- Sewing masks for front line workers
- Writing letters of support for front line service workers
- Writing letters to people in seniors residences
- Engaging online with seniors residences and child centers
- Providing virtual academic and/or language development support in an online environment for students
- Supporting neighbours in need by cutting grass, shovelling snow, running errands
- Virtually Teaching others a skill you’ve learned during this time at home
- Online Reading Buddies for younger students or students practicing their English or French language skills
- Virtual faith based activities