Lead the Change: Youth Voices on Volunteerism is a youth-led initiative focused on deepening understanding of the challenges and opportunities in engaging young people as volunteers in the community. Through a youth-led participatory action research process, the project empowers youth to explore challenges Halton Hills and working with youth to co-create solutions that promote community engagement.
The project emphasizes youth leadership, skill development, community collaboration and engagement, centering their lived experience and creating the space for inclusive conversations. Activities include
• leadership workshops,
• skill development opportunities in the areas of community engagement, research and communication, and
• opportunities to share the findings and solutions with other youth and decision makers for action.
All designed and led by youth, supported by local organizations and mentors; the goal is to strengthen volunteerism and build more resilient, connected and engaged youth in Halton Hills and inform practices and policies on how to best engage youth as volunteers.
The 40-hour requirement of community involvement for high school students in Ontario has been in place for 25 years, with out a formal evaluation or input from youth. This project will be based on a pilot project, taking place in Burlington. This focus on Halton Hills will build on that learning, but focus on the voices and community facilitators and challenges in Halton Hills (ensuring rural perspectives are included) and add to the information to be shared with decision-makers and nonprofit leaders on community engagement of youth.
Youth volunteerism is declining across Canada and Halton Region. Based on their experience in dwindling youth volunteers, impacting local community organization to serve the community, the Town of Halton Hills, is ready to work alongside Community Development Halton to engage youth on this important topic. The Halton Hills library, a strong supporter of youth volunteerism, is also supporting this project, to encourage the development of local understanding of how to best encourage community engagement.
Nonprofits across Halton region report a gap in understanding how to effectively engage youth as volunteers. From Halton responses to the Ontario NonProfit Network’s, State of the Sector Survey (2025) we know that 31% of Halton nonprofits report struggling to recruit youth volunteers and 63% report difficultly recruiting any volunteers at all. Statistics Canada (2025) reveals continuing nation wide downward trends in volunteerism, in both formal and informal volunteerism over th past 10 years, with some of the decline most notably amongst youth.
Despite the existence of Ontario’s 40-hour community involvement requirement for high school students, introduced over 25 years ago, there has been little formal evaluation of its impact. Youth consistently report a disconnect between the policy’s intent and their lived experience, often feeling unsupported, uninformed about, or uninspired by available opportunities.
This project addresses these gaps by placing youth at the center of the conversation. Through youth-led research and leadership development, it will generate insights, build capacity, and foster inclusive strategies that make volunteerism more accessible, meaningful, and responsive to the needs of today’s youth.
support
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Youth volunteerism is an important element to the community. This project will make a big impact for the community.
This project is so important for the development of our communities and our youth. Building leadership, advocacy and self determination in our young people will only make our future better, brighter and kinder. I can’t wait to see what this project will do!
This project is so important for the development of our communities and our youth. Building leadership, advocacy and self determination in our young people will
At HCLS, we know that when young people feel empowered and confident, whether in understanding their rights or contributing to their communities, they can bring about meaningful change. This project comes at the perfect moment to help shape the future of youth volunteerism in Halton Hills.
At HCLS, we know that when young people feel empowered and confident, whether in understanding their rights or contributing to their communities, they can bring
Volunteerism is dropping with significant impacts to our communities. This project is an important way to get young people engaged. Please support this!
I am grateful for the important work CDH does for our Community, and I believe youth led research and engagement is critical to find good solutions.
There is nothing greater than paying it forward in charity. And begins early when you are a youth and stays with you forever. I truly support this with CDH