Community Development Halton Blog

Across Halton, community connection is strengthened every day by people who choose to give their time and energy to causes that matter. At the centre of this movement is the CDH Volunteer Ambassador program—a dedicated team of volunteers who play a vital role in inspiring others to discover the power of giving back. Volunteer Ambassador Rose showing the Volunteer Connector platform to local students Volunteer Ambassadors act as welcoming guides to the world of volunteering. W

Youth researcher Gabe Henriquez reflects on how awareness, opportunity, and community can transform service into meaningful experience. By Gabe Henriquez What have you most loved and appreciated about the work of the organization that you are involved in? It takes the two things that I have interest in. It’s a research project, and I’ve done that a lot throughout my years as a student - in high school and now in college. Now, I’m in my second year at Humber. It’s also a t

Youth researcher Claire Liu explores what motivates students to volunteer—and what barriers still stand in their way. By Claire Liu What is your connection to the organization, and why is it so important to you? As a high schooler, the 40-hour requirement affects me. I never thought about it before, and when I learned about this research project, how the 40-hour requirement might affect other people, I started wondering is there an effect and I wanted to find out. So, I joine

The CDH Youth Engagement Research project ended on March 17, 2026 with the in-person presentation, Youth Views on Volunteerism, at the Burlington Central Library. From March 2025 to February 2026, CDH engaged 10 youth volunteers in the Youth Engagement Research Project. The project explored the facilitators and barriers to the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) 40-hour community involvement requirement.​ This requirement came into effect in 1999 and has never been evalu

Celebrating National Volunteer Week in Halton The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2026 as the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development . International Volunteer Year is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to celebrate the power of civic participation and renew Halton’s culture of volunteering. Volunteer Canada has proclaimed the theme of Ignite Volunteerism for the 2026 National Volunteer Week celebrations, April 19 to April 25, 2026. At Volunteer Halt

Statistics Canada has just released new data from the 2023 Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (SGVP) [1] that provides a deeper look at volunteering among racialized Canadians. This release builds on earlier survey results and, for the first time, offers detailed national data on how racialized population contribute their time, skills, and expertise to communities across Canada. These findings are particularly relevant for Halton Region, where the population ha

Key insights from 2023 General Social Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (GSSGVP) [1] Volunteering plays an essential role in building strong, caring, and connected communities. The 2023 GSSGVP provides the most recent national and provincial data on how Canadians give their time, both formally, through organizations, and informally, through helping individuals directly. Volunteer participation is changing Across Ontario, fewer adults are formally volunteering w