Community Development Halton Offers Year-Long Volunteer Research Opportunity for Youth

By: Laura Steiner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Milton Reporter

Community Development Halton (CDH) is offering a new year-long volunteer opportunity for youth in the City of Burlington. The initiative seeks to assemble a team of Youth Researcher Volunteers to conduct research on volunteering in the city, with a focus on identifying the facilitators and barriers faced by individuals aged 14 to 24.

The research project will train youth volunteers to investigate how the mandatory 40-hour volunteering requirement for high school students, implemented two decades ago, impacts young people. The requirement, initially introduced to encourage volunteerism, has raised questions about its effectiveness. Critics suggest it may have shifted volunteering from a meaningful activity to a transactional one—students volunteering solely to fulfill the hour requirement.

“Since its implementation, concerns have emerged that this mandatory volunteering may not be fostering genuine engagement,” said a CDH representative. “We want to explore what it truly takes to empower youth to volunteer and what changes organizations can make to better support youth involvement.”

In addition, CDH noted that some organizations have reduced their recruitment of youth volunteers or have scheduling conflicts that prevent youth from participating. The research aims to better understand these challenges and offer insights on how local organizations can improve their volunteer practices.

The target audience for the session includes Burlington youth aged 14 to 24, their families and guardians, high school teachers, guidance counselors, and nonprofit organizations that support youth in the city.

For more details on the opportunity or to join the information session, visit the Community Development Halton website.