Activities

Katimavik is an unforgettable experience that changes lives through volunteer work and stimulating learning environments.

Volunteer service in Canada

Volunteer service is central to life in Katimavik. Youth work for 35 to 40 hours a week for not-for-profit organizations that make a real difference in communities across Canada.

Katimavik’s partners work with vulnerable and marginalized groups in several sectors, including the social services, environment, poverty reduction, sports and leisure, and arts and culture. Volunteers carry out administrative and manual work in a variety of workplaces.

Our volunteers’ contributions enable organizations to carry out projects they would have been unable to do otherwise. In addition to learning through volunteer service, youth apply their competencies in support of a range of fields.

Collective community project (CCP)

While serving their host community, Katimavik volunteers also consult local stakeholders to develop a collective project that will best serve the municipality. The nature of the project depends on the community’s specific needs and the project’s feasibility. Here are some examples of typical CCPs:

• Collaborating with local initiatives to increase their impact in the community
• Fostering social solidarity through dynamic projects
• Awareness-raising and educational activities on local and national issues
• Developing community gardens or other environmental initiatives

Ad-hoc volunteer work

Despite their busy work schedules, volunteers frequently take on group volunteer work in the community for special events. These one-time activities, initiated by partner organizations or local stakeholders, reinforce their commitment to community involvement. Here are some examples:

• Participation in spaghetti dinners for annual fundraisers
• Renovating and moving daycare centres
• Municipal infrastructure repairs or upgrades
• Large scale cleanups of municipal land and parks

The competency approach

In addition to participating in work projects, Katimavik volunteers benefit from a stimulating learning process that focuses on competency development in civic engagement, healthy lifestyle, official languages, cultural discovery and environmental stewardship.

The competency approach is a structured educational process that allows volunteers to acquire new skill sets through volunteer service, group life and community integration.

The 8 Katimavik competencies are to:

• Interact with others in a variety of situations
• Adopt an open attitude towards the diversity of social and multicultural realities
• Communicate in both official languages
• Engage in diverse work experiences
• Apply habits that favour a healthy lifestyle
• Develop an integrated vision of environmental protection and sustainable development
• Engage as a citizen
• Prepare to integrate, as a citizen, into the job market, school or other life event

Volunteers develop professional skills through participating in challenging work placements, and grow personally through learning activities.