Can Visitors in Canada Volunteer?

[Niropala]

Hi everyone, my parents are in Canada on visitor visas and would like to volunteer (e.g., at a food bank) to stay active.

I asked our local food bank, and they said they welcome volunteers regardless of their immigration status. Is this legal for visitors in Canada?

Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Copingwithlife]

Hi everyone, my parents are in Canada on visitor visas and would like to volunteer (e.g., at a food bank) to stay active.

I asked our local food bank, and they said they welcome volunteers regardless of their immigration status. Is this legal for visitors in Canada?

Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated. Thank you!

You already asked this on Reddit

 

[canuck78]

Hi everyone, my parents are in Canada on visitor visas and would like to volunteer (e.g., at a food bank) to stay active.

I asked our local food bank, and they said they welcome volunteers regardless of their immigration status. Is this legal for visitors in Canada?

Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated. Thank you!

Likely no. Any potential paid work would be viewed as working illegally. There are other potential volunteer work that is never paid which may be an option like visiting seniors for example. The food bank would not be familiar with all immigration laws so can’t be counted on to provide accurate advice.

 

[Copingwithlife]

Hi everyone, my parents are in Canada on visitor visas and would like to volunteer (e.g., at a food bank) to stay active.

I asked our local food bank, and they said they welcome volunteers regardless of their immigration status. Is this legal for visitors in Canada?

Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated. Thank you!

They are here on visitors visa , that is too visit , not work

 

[CanGoldDigger]

Hi everyone, my parents are in Canada on visitor visas and would like to volunteer (e.g., at a food bank) to stay active.

I asked our local food bank, and they said they welcome volunteers regardless of their immigration status. Is this legal for visitors in Canada?

Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated. Thank you!

Yes. Just be very careful. It should be volunteering from the perspective of IRCC by definition, not just formally or nominally.

 

[CanGoldDigger]

Including but not limited to:

• 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.

 

[canuck78]

Including but not limited to:

• 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.

If you got this from AI there are a lot of inaccuracies in it and should not be used as advice.

 

[canuck78]

Yes. Just be very careful. It should be volunteering from the perspective of IRCC by definition, not just formally or nominally.

Some foodbank employees do sort food for example so for a visitor that type of volunteer work would likely not be possible.