Guides

How to volunteer in Toronto and where to apply

How to volunteer in Toronto: what a police check costs, the age limits, how long the wait runs, and 26 charities with volunteer programmes.

Updated 14 October 2026

Charities in this guide

A Toronto charity puts a new volunteer through an application form, an interview, a police record check for anything involving children, patients or people in crisis, and a mandatory orientation session before a first shift. Not every step applies everywhere, and the 26 charities below set their own requirements. The YMCA of Greater Toronto tells applicants it can take four weeks just to reply, and the screening begins after that. The Toronto Humane Society has closed its application form altogether and keeps a waiting list instead. What follows is what each charity asks of you, what the screening costs, and which registered Toronto charities take volunteers for which kind of work.

What a Toronto charity asks before your first shift

Screening is heaviest where the work puts you near someone vulnerable. Covenant House Toronto's volunteer page asks successful candidates for two police checks including a vulnerable sector check, three references, and a three-part online training programme about working with youth who are homeless, trafficked or at risk. Onboarding alone takes up to two weeks once you've been accepted.

At a hospital the screening is medical. Sunnybrook's volunteer pages require a medical form within a month of your start date covering your immunisation status and a two-step tuberculosis test your family doctor has to do, plus proof of COVID-19 vaccination. The shift pattern is fixed too: three to four hours, one day a week, the same day and the same time, for six to twelve months.

At a food centre the paperwork is lighter and the trial is longer. The Stop Community Food Centre takes applicants through an information session at its Davenport Road location, then a phone or in-person interview, then a single trial shift, then a meeting to decide whether the role fits before a regular weekly shift is scheduled. Information sessions happen six times a year, so the wait depends on when the next one falls.

References and a minimum commitment come up almost everywhere. Scott Mission needs two references before an application goes any further, and warns that shifts are physical enough to require standing, walking, bending and lifting up to twenty pounds. Fred Victor asks for a minimum commitment of one month, with a mandatory orientation session first. The Toronto Humane Society asks for a weekly shift for at least six months, plus training that includes multiple-choice testing and AODA Customer Service Standard training, plus a strong recommendation that you hold a current tetanus shot.

Only the vulnerable sector check costs a volunteer money

Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 authorises three kinds of check, and the difference between them decides what you pay. A criminal record check is the basic one. A criminal record and judicial matters check adds discharges, outstanding charges and court orders. A vulnerable sector check adds findings of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder, pardoned sexual offences and some non-conviction information, and the province's guidance says only your local police service can issue one.

Ontario makes the first two free for volunteers when a police service does them, and Toronto Police require a signed letter on the organisation's letterhead with the application. A vulnerable sector check is not free. Toronto Police Service's published record check fees, read on 13 October 2026, are $26.72 for a volunteer vulnerable sector check against $71.72 for the same check for paid work. Toronto Police only serve people whose postal code starts with M, and the check has to be requested through an organisation registered with the Police Reference Check Program, using an agency code that organisation gives you.

What each Toronto police record check costs A volunteer pays nothing for a criminal record check or a criminal record and judicial matters check, and $26.72 for a vulnerable sector check. The same three checks cost $26.72, $26.72 and $71.72 for employment. Fingerprints cost $25 and are waived for volunteers who bring a letter on organisation letterhead. Toronto Police record checks, 13 October 2026 Volunteer Employment Criminal record check free $26.72 Criminal record and judicial matters free $26.72 Vulnerable sector check $26.72 $71.72 Fingerprints, where the RCMP requires them: $25.00, waived for volunteers who bring signed correspondence on the organisation's letterhead. The free checks need that same letter. Applications were running a fortnight behind.
Fees from the Toronto Police Service record checks page, read 13 October 2026. The free rate for volunteers is set by Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015.

Some applicants are sent for fingerprints. Under RCMP policy, anyone whose sex and date of birth match an existing pardoned sexual offence record has to be fingerprinted before the check can be completed, as identity verification rather than any accusation. Toronto Police charge $25.00 for the appointment at 40 College Street and waive it for genuine volunteers who bring signed correspondence on the organisation's letterhead. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto says on its FAQ that it writes that letter for applicants who need it.

Plan around the queue. On 13 October 2026 Toronto Police were working through vulnerable sector applications submitted on 30 September, roughly a fortnight behind, and the service offers no rush option at any price.

Not every role needs one. Yonge Street Mission requires either a vulnerable sector check or a criminal record and judicial matters check for its long-term roles and none at all for its short-term shifts. Second Harvest says it currently requires no vulnerable sector check for any role. High Park Nature Centre, registered with the CRA as High Park Initiatives, asks every volunteer aged 18 and over for a police record check dated within the past two years, asks you to pay for it, and reimburses you after ten hours of volunteering.

Fifteen at the youngest, eighteen for most roles

No charity listed below takes an individual volunteer under 15. High Park Nature Centre sets its minimum at 15, and some positions at Red Door Family Shelter are open to students and families from 15. New Circles Community Services sets 16, as does Second Harvest for student volunteers, though Second Harvest raises it to 19 for event roles. Animal care, hospitals and mentoring sit at 18: The Annex Cat Rescue, Sunnybrook, Toronto Wildlife Centre for most of its positions, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto all draw that line.

Younger children get in through a family or a school group instead. Daily Bread Food Bank runs public food sorting events three times a year, at spring, Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, where children aged 11 to 14 take part accompanied by a parent or guardian, and it books school classes from grades 6 to 12 on Tuesday mornings at an eight to one student-to-adult ratio. FoodShare Toronto asks that anyone under 14 comes with a parent, guardian or teacher, and that 14 to 18 year olds bring a permission form and a photo release form signed by a parent.

Ontario students need 40 hours of community involvement to earn the secondary school diploma, as the province's graduation requirements set out. Not every charity will help you get them. Sunnybrook states that because of the orientation and training a hospital placement needs, it cannot accept students who only want to complete 40 hours, and asks for a weekly shift from September to June instead.

The one-off shifts, and what a group day costs

Three of the charities below take volunteers for a single shift, and two of them give it a name of their own. Yonge Street Mission runs what it calls In-a-Pinch roles, short-term and sometimes last-minute shifts at its food bank, Double Take store and Evergreen kitchen, which you book yourself through an online account with no police check attached. Habitat for Humanity GTA offers one-time and special event opportunities alongside its ongoing ReStore and build-site roles. Daily Bread Food Bank's three public sorting events a year take individuals, friends and families.

Group volunteering is the other way into a single day, and at Daily Bread, FoodShare, The Stop and Furniture Bank it carries a fee. FoodShare says why: organising and running a group visit takes staff time. Daily Bread invoices a minimum programme fee in advance for its Employee Volunteer Program. FoodShare asks non-profit and community groups for $10 to $20 a head and corporate, institutional or government groups for a minimum of $50 a head. Furniture Bank charges an experience fee of $1,800 for a group of up to seventeen at its Etobicoke warehouse. Covenant House and New Circles both cap groups at ten people, regardless of the fee.

The ongoing roles ask for months rather than weeks. The Stop asks for one shift a week for four to six months, with a float option of at least two shifts a month for people who can't manage that. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto requires a minimum of one year from every volunteer in every programme. Hospice Toronto requires more than 35 hours of core hospice training before several of its roles open to you at all.

Four weeks for a first reply, and no reply at the busiest charities

Two of the best-known charities here say on their own pages that they have more applicants than places. The Toronto Humane Society already has more than 400 volunteers, has closed its application form, keeps a waiting list, and posts new openings once or twice a year. Toronto Wildlife Centre receives over 600 applications annually, runs its information sessions by invitation only, and recruits for seasonal roles such as Wildlife Nursery Assistant over the winter for training in early spring. Red Door Family Shelter said in October 2026 that it has no on-site volunteer openings, and points people towards running a donation drive instead.

Where applications are open, the reply is slow and sometimes silent. The YMCA of Greater Toronto says it can take up to four weeks for staff to contact you. Covenant House keeps every application on file for six months and says it cannot respond to all inquiries. Scott Mission processes applications at a speed that depends on the season and contacts only applicants who match a current need. Yonge Street Mission says so plainly: an application does not guarantee an interview or a placement.

So apply to more than one organisation. Apply to a specific posted role rather than sending a general offer of help, because Covenant House, Toronto Wildlife Centre and Scott Mission all say they contact applicants only when a position matches.

Where to volunteer in Toronto, by cause

Every organisation below is a CRA-registered charity with an address in the Toronto area and a volunteer page of its own, checked in October 2026. The first link goes to its profile in this directory, the second to its own volunteer page.

Food banks, kitchens and food rescue

These six run warehouses, kitchens, food banks and farms. Our guide to volunteering at a Toronto soup kitchen or food bank covers what the shifts involve.

Homelessness, shelters and drop-ins

Covenant House asks for two police checks and three references, more than any other charity on this page. The social services category lists 1,394 more organisations in the Toronto area.

  • Fred Victor, downtown east. Weekday shifts between 8am and 3pm, one-month minimum, and applicants from Toronto's east end neighbourhoods and people with experience of unemployment, poverty or homelessness are prioritised. Volunteer page.
  • Yonge Street Mission. Short-term In-a-Pinch shifts you book yourself, and long-term roles of six months or more. Court-ordered service hours are accepted with three days' notice. Volunteer page.
  • Covenant House Toronto. Life skills workshops, tutoring, employment workshops, recreation and mentoring with young people who are homeless or at risk. Volunteer page.
  • Sistering. Kitchen shifts, and programme roles where you run a workshop in something you already do well, from ESL to beading. Volunteer page.
  • Red Door Family Shelter. Children's programmes, homework club, food bank and donation room when openings exist. Volunteer page.

Housing, furniture and clothing

Animals

Fostering takes a cat into your own home for two weeks or several months, so it asks for no fixed weekly shift.

  • The Toronto Humane Society, River Street. Feline, canine and special species care, plus a work-from-home Pet Parent Support Network role. Volunteer page.
  • Toronto Cat Rescue, Etobicoke. Foster homes for two weeks to several months, drivers who can claim mileage as a tax receipt, and store shifts of one to two and a half hours a week at Kennedy Commons PetSmart. Volunteer page.
  • The Annex Cat Rescue. Entirely volunteer-run with no shelter building, so the work is fostering, trap-neuter-return, and feeding sixteen feral colonies around the city. A car isn't needed for the feeding routes and food receipts can be exchanged for charitable tax receipts. Volunteer page.
  • Toronto Wildlife Centre, Downsview. Wildlife care and nursery roles, with an up-to-date tetanus vaccination required for anything on site, and rabies vaccination only for roles working with rabies vector species. Volunteer page.

Parks, gardens and nature

High Park Nature Centre and the Toronto Botanical Garden both run to a season rather than to a year.

  • High Park Nature Centre, 440 Parkside Drive. Nature club and camp counsellor assistants, Cherry Blossom season assistants, and nature stewards running FeederWatch and water monitoring. Three-month minimum. Volunteer page.
  • Toronto Botanical Garden, North York. Tour guides for the garden and Wilket Creek ravine from May to October, hands-on gardening teams on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, and reception and shop shifts. Volunteer page.

Hospitals, hospice and health

Sunnybrook requires a two-step tuberculosis test from your family doctor and proof of COVID-19 vaccination. At Hospice Toronto, more than 35 hours of training comes before some roles open at all.

  • Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. One three to four hour shift a week on a fixed day for six to twelve months, with orientation delivered through Zoom and e-learning plus in-person training. Volunteer page.
  • Hospice Toronto. Hospice care companions supporting people at home, peer bereavement support, and the Young Carers programme for children aged 5 to 18 who look after someone in their family. Volunteer page.

Children, youth and neighbourhood services

The YMCA of Greater Toronto screens every volunteer aged 18 and over through a vulnerable sector check.

Nothing on this page replaces a city-wide search. Volunteer Toronto, which describes itself as Canada's largest volunteer centre with over fifty years of experience, lists openings from organisations across the city, and Yonge Street Mission points its own visitors there. The City of Toronto runs a separate set of programmes, from fostering shelter animals to ravine stewardship to long-term care homes, listed on its volunteer with the City page.

Common questions

Do I need a police check to volunteer in Toronto, and who pays for it?

You need one for most roles that put you near children, patients, seniors or people in crisis, and that is the only one of the three kinds of check a volunteer pays for. Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 authorises a criminal record check, a criminal record and judicial matters check, and a vulnerable sector check. The province's guidance says volunteers can get the first two free from a police service, as long as the application carries a signed letter on the organisation's letterhead confirming the position is unpaid, and that up to five free copies of the result can be requested at the same time if you ask for them when you apply. That free rate applies only to police services. A third-party provider will charge you. Toronto Police Service listed its volunteer rate at $26.72 on 13 October 2026, against $71.72 for the same check requested for paid employment, and only residents with an M postal code can apply through them. You can't request a vulnerable sector check on your own initiative either: the organisation has to be registered with the Police Reference Check Program and give you an agency code. If your sex and date of birth happen to match a pardoned sexual offence record on the RCMP system, fingerprinting becomes mandatory as an identity check. Toronto Police charge $25.00 for that appointment and waive it for genuine volunteers who bring a signed letter on organisation letterhead. Not every role needs any of this. Yonge Street Mission's short-term shifts require no check at all, and Second Harvest says it currently requires no vulnerable sector check for any of its positions.

How old do you have to be to volunteer in Toronto?

Fifteen at the youngest for an individual role, and 18 for most of the ones people actually want. High Park Nature Centre sets its minimum at 15, and Red Door Family Shelter opens some positions to students and families from 15. New Circles Community Services requires 16, and Second Harvest requires 16 for student volunteers while setting 19 for event roles. From there the age climbs with the risk in the work. The Annex Cat Rescue takes nobody under 18. Sunnybrook sets 18 across all its sites and says you must be that age on the day you submit the application, not the day you'd start. Toronto Wildlife Centre sets 18 for most positions while keeping a handful open from 15. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto asks mentors to be 18 or over and to live in Toronto, because the young people are all in the city and travel expectations run one way. Children under 15 are not shut out, but they go through a family or a school. Daily Bread Food Bank runs public food sorting events three times a year, at spring, Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, where 11 to 14 year olds take part accompanied by a parent or guardian, and it books school classes from grades 6 to 12 on Tuesday mornings with an eight to one student-to-adult ratio. FoodShare Toronto asks that under-14s come with a parent, guardian or teacher, and that 14 to 18 year olds bring a permission form and a photo release form signed by a parent. If you're organising something for a younger child, start with the group and family programmes rather than the individual application form, because the individual form will usually filter them out on age alone.

How long does it take to start volunteering after you apply?

Plan for a month or two, and longer at the places everybody has heard of. The YMCA of Greater Toronto tells applicants it can take up to four weeks before a staff member makes contact, and that's before any interview, screening or training has happened. Covenant House Toronto says onboarding takes up to two weeks once you've been accepted, and holds applications on file for six months because a suitable position may not exist today. A vulnerable sector check adds its own delay: on 13 October 2026 Toronto Police were processing applications submitted on 30 September, about a fortnight, with no rush service available at any price. Training stacks on top of that again. Hospice Toronto requires more than 35 hours of core hospice training before several of its roles open at all. At the most popular organisations the wait is indefinite rather than long. The Toronto Humane Society already has more than 400 volunteers, has closed its application form, maintains a waiting list, and posts new openings once or twice a year. Toronto Wildlife Centre receives over 600 applications a year and sends information session invitations only to candidates who have already been screened in. Red Door Family Shelter currently has no on-site openings. Apply to more than one organisation, and include the ones whose pages say nothing about a waiting list. Apply to a specific posted role too, because Covenant House, Toronto Wildlife Centre and Scott Mission all say they contact applicants only when a position matches.

Can I volunteer for a single day instead of committing every week?

Yes, but one-off shifts are a small share of what's available and you have to search for them by name. Yonge Street Mission runs short-term roles it calls In-a-Pinch, covering its food bank, the Double Take store and the Evergreen kitchen, which you book yourself through an online account with no police check and no interview attached. Habitat for Humanity GTA lists one-time and special event opportunities alongside its ongoing ReStore and construction roles. Daily Bread Food Bank hosts public food sorting events three times a year, at spring, Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, which families, friends and individuals can join. The Stop offers a float option for people who can't manage a weekly shift, asking for at least two shifts a month instead. Group volunteering is the other way to do a single day, and it usually costs money, because organising a one-off session takes staff time that the charity has to recover. Daily Bread invoices a minimum programme fee in advance for its Employee Volunteer Program. FoodShare asks $10 to $20 a head from non-profit and community groups and a minimum of $50 a head from corporate, institutional and government groups. Furniture Bank charges an experience fee of $1,800 for a group of up to seventeen. Covenant House and New Circles both cap groups at ten people regardless of the fee. If a one-off is all you can offer, the honest advice is to look at food sorting, ReStore shifts and seasonal events first, and to treat the ongoing roles as a separate decision for a different year.

Can high school students use volunteering in Toronto for their 40 hours?

Often, but not everywhere, and the places with the best-known names are frequently the ones that say no. Ontario requires at least 40 hours of community involvement activities to earn the secondary school diploma, as the province's graduation requirements set out, and plenty of Toronto charities are set up to help. The YMCA of Greater Toronto accepts student placement hours and asks you to contact the location you're interested in directly. New Circles Community Services runs a student volunteer programme covering co-op, field placement and school community hours for anyone 16 and over. Toronto Wildlife Centre accepts a limited number of co-op and placement students each semester, with high school students starting in General Support doing laundry, cage cleaning and facility cleaning rather than patient contact, and a possible move into wildlife care later based on how they do. Dixon Hall posts student placement openings for the fall and winter college and university terms. The refusals are just as clear. Sunnybrook states that because of the orientation and hospital training involved it cannot accept students who only want to complete 40 hours, and asks instead for one weekly shift from September to June or three to four shifts a week over the summer. Yonge Street Mission reserves its 15 to 17 year old roles for young people already in its own programmes. The practical approach is to start in September rather than April, apply to three or four organisations at once, and say in the application exactly how many hours you need and by when.

Before you apply

Read the role description on the charity's own page before you fill in anything, because the age limit, the shift pattern and the screening requirement all sit there rather than on the general volunteer page. Check whether applications are open. Then apply to two or three places at once, one large and one small, because a large one may take four weeks just to reply. If you want to see a charity at work before committing a year to it, the charity events coming up in Toronto are one way to do it, and the full list of 12,758 registered charities in the Toronto area covers the organisations too small to have a volunteer page at all.

If you run a Toronto charity and your volunteer programme isn't described here, claim your listing and tell us what you need.