How Has Youth Volunteering Evolved in Recent Years?

How do young people engage in society? Are young people still volunteering in Quebec? The state of youth volunteering in Quebec is an interesting topic to dive into because it is not discussed enough.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post on debunking myths about youth, it is important to set aside our misconceptions about young people and instead take the time to see where they are coming from.

From what we can tell, young people are engaging in different ways in society than just volunteering. They are turning to more actionable, quick-results methods of supporting a cause or organization. The challenge now is for your organization to recognize those contributions and find a way to bring young people into your community through them.  

Volunteer Sector in Quebec 

According to a study done by Imagine Canada Quebec’s nonprofit sector contributes to roughly 10% of Quebec’s GDP, which is a sizeable amount. It was estimated that about 32.5% of Quebec residents volunteer, which translates into 290 million volunteer hours a year. What does this tell us? Quebecers do indeed give back to their communities and it is safe to say that they are engaged in society.  

State of Youth Volunteering in Quebec 

Turning our attention to young people, it’s fundamental to understand that young people are still showing up for their communities, but in different ways – let me explain.

Rather than volunteering their time with an organization or a cause, youth are instead taking on different actions to show their support or their dissatisfaction by boycotting products or signing petitions.

According to a survey done by the Quebec government to gauge youth’s social engagement, they found that 9.5% of youth aged 23 (in 2021) engaged in volunteering for an organization. But in comparison, the survey also found that 33.8% of youth aged 23 signed a petition and 32.4% boycotted a product.

What does this tell us?

Youth are still engaged in their community, but the way they are going about it has changed. Youth are instead turning to participating in activities that they see as taking action.

What does this mean for organizations? Youth do care, they care about their community, and they want to help. The challenge for your organization is to acknowledge youths’ contributions to the cause and find ways to bring them into your organization. For example, if an organization launches a petition and many young people sign it, how can the organization keep those youth engaged and involved in their community?

One of the ways that your organization can do this is by reconfiguring your volunteer program.

When establishing what you will need help with from your volunteers, it is important to understand that they want to engage in meaningful tasks that contribute to the success of your goals and mission. Just as they are looking for actionable and practical steps that they believe will impact an issue or cause, they want the same from the volunteering work they do.

Your job as an organization is to ensure that the tasks you will assign your youth volunteers align with your mission and advance it in actionable steps, while simultaneously explaining how their efforts will fit into the bigger picture.

That is where I come in! Sarah Barbosa Consulting is here to help you organize your volunteer program in a way that will foster your relationships with young people and convert them from passerby participants to engaged members of your community.

If you are interested in learning more about how we do this and how we can help you, do not hesitate to reach out!