Update for the 2021-2022 School Year
Community Involvement Hours
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board / Secondary / The Classroom / Community Involvement Hours
The Ministry of Education has announced that for students graduating in the 2021-2022 school year, the community involvement graduation requirement will be reduced to a minimum of 20 hours instead of the usual 40 hours. (Please note, the Ministry of Education has indicated that the community involvement graduation requirement of 40 hours will be restored in 2022-2023)
We know that many students want to volunteer and support their community in any way that they can. The OCDSB supports our students in their never-ending generosity in supporting local and broader community needs. During this challenging time, safety is the priority. When volunteering, remember to follow directions from Ottawa Public Health.
Community Involvement hours must fall into one of these categories:
Not-for-profit: includes voluntary activities for any not-for-profit institution or foundation that would not displace a paid worker.
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.
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.
Eligible for 2021-2022 School Year
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 2021-2022 school year:
· Walking a younger neighbour or sibling to and from school, helping younger siblings with their homework, etc
· 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.)
· Activities normally completed at home (e.g. students could help an elderly relative with errands, providing after-school care for a sibling, etc.)