Finance Committee on July 16th, 2020

[Paula Speevak]

What was most important was to get a sense of the design of it, because of some of our concerns, and in addition to that, to make sure there was awareness that the government had already invested and paid for the resources around youth engagement and this platform, which could be used and be a benefit to the program.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

That's the platform that can connect youth to up to 75,000 volunteer positions.

[Paula Speevak]

Yes.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Those would be volunteer positions across Canada: rural and urban, a large, diverse range of volunteer opportunities to cater to a diverse range of student volunteers. Is that all fair to say?

[Paula Speevak]

Yes, except that was before the pandemic. As I mentioned, as the pandemic emerged, organizations either closed or cancelled activities and moved to more virtual services, that significantly decreased.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We will have to end it there. Thank you, both.

We turn now to Ms. Koutrakis, followed by Ms. Gaudreau.

Annie.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Speevak, for coming before the finance committee today to discuss this very important issue, and to your team for all the work you do.

I'd like to touch a little bit more on the pay issue.

Over 35,000 students applied for the CSSG, and they understood the model used to determine their pay and the general roles and responsibilities they would take on with charities. I'd like to understand a little more why you are so opposed to this program, given the fact that students who were looking to serve their communities knew what they were signing up for and were happy with the compensation they would receive for their work and all the good they would do to fill in the gap that cash-strapped charities are not able to fill.

[Paula Speevak]

There are a few aspects of your question that I could address.

The first one is that there's no question that students want financial assistance, and this is one of the ways, one of the opportunities, that was offered for students to receive assistance. It is certainly understandable that students did apply. Many of them, of course, are interested in the community service aspect primarily, but it is understandable that students who need financial assistance would be applying.

In terms of their wanting to help, there are many volunteer opportunities available. What we have heard from students directly, and in my contacts with some student associations, is that many students have multiple responsibilities this summer. They may be caring for younger siblings so that their parents can work. They may have children themselves. They may be helping with elder care or helping neighbours in their community with shopping and other things, providing lots of informal assistance and volunteering. In addition to that, some are catching up with their education that was interrupted during the pandemic, and so on. Therefore, with regard to students wanting something to do, there are some opportunities available, but as I mentioned, in terms of large numbers—100,000 or even 20,000 opportunities for 20 or 27 hours a week—those do not appear to be available.

We recently did some research with IPSOS Public Affairs, asking organizations about how their volunteer programs are going. Half of them said they've had a significant decrease in volunteers. In many cases it is because they have had to close programs and cancel activities, and in some cases older volunteers have had to step aside.

I just wanted to address the issue of what the sector needed by way of help. In some cases, some organizations certainly are welcoming students and others to volunteer. In many other cases, they are overwhelmed with the number of folks generously coming forward to offer to help and don't have the positions available.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Turning to what the officials said today, they indicated that they needed a third party for the CSSG to provide direct support to youth with special needs, with the capacity to evaluate quality opportunities and the ability to make grant payments to students in a short period of time, etc. It sounds like a pretty tall order to me, and I think that everybody on the committee and anyone who's watching us would agree.

Would your organization have been able to do something like that? If so, would it have required some financial support from the government, or would you have been able to do it out of pocket and on your own?

[Paula Speevak]

As I mentioned earlier, there are many elements of that program that Volunteer Canada does not have expertise or experience with. Therefore, from the beginning, we did not have in mind its being something that we would be offering to administer. Our assumption was that it was going to be administered directly by government or by the Canada service corps. We weren't aware that it was being contracted or that there was a contribution agreement with an external organization, although that, of course, is an option. That was not something Volunteer Canada was putting its name forward to do.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

This is your last question, Annie.

[Annie Koutrakis, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

In the alternative to providing financial compensation as an incentive to volunteers, do you have any suggestions as to how we can attain the same objectives of benefiting youth while also assisting our communities that need it most?

[Paula Speevak]

For sure.

In terms of providing grants to students, I think that students can apply for the grant, indicating their need, and if part of the program then includes saying to students that this allows you the time to do a number of things, including attending to family, helping out in neighbourhoods, furthering education, healing from illness, a number of things, then students could indicate that. The financial assistance could be available and they could attend to the things that are important to their lives this summer.

In terms of providing opportunities and promoting the availability of all actual volunteer needs in organizations, that can be done separately as well. As I mentioned, there are many volunteer centres. There is the volunteer matching platform, and those who are interested could certainly find opportunities that exist within organizations.

In terms of helping non-profit organizations in the sector, that's a matter of looking at the resiliency fund that Imagine Canada and others have mentioned, which this sector has been requesting for recovery and resilience, and that can be done separately.

Therefore, I think that attending to students' needs for financial support can be handled with a grant. Providing opportunities to volunteer, where they exist, can be handled through the existing infrastructure, and helping the sector can be handled through a resiliency fund.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, both.

Ms. Speevak, are you okay with another five-minute series of questions by two members each? We're a little over our end time.

We'll go to Ms. Gaudreau for five minutes and then wrap it up with Mr. Fragiskatos.

Ms. Gaudreau.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good evening, Ms. Speevak. It's very nice of you to give the committee more of your time.

We're talking a lot about volunteering and compensation, so I'm going to start by asking you this. How does Volunteer Canada define volunteering?

[Paula Speevak]

The definition of volunteering has evolved, for sure, but essentially when somebody assists others outside their household without financial compensation and for the public good, that's considered volunteering.

Over time there's been an acceptance that there's a spectrum of involvement, so it could be somebody who keeps themselves informed about an issue. If they're interested in recycling or youth homelessness, they keep themselves informed on the issues. Further along, they may actually do something to support that issue, and further along they may actively participate with an organization or informal—

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you.

Would you agree that volunteering is something a person does on a voluntary basis, depending on what they're interested in?

[Paula Speevak]

Volunteering is done on a voluntary basis, absolutely, yes.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Great.

Here's where I'm going with this. Earlier, we talked about the time constraints and the need to find solutions quickly. Nevertheless, the process to award the work was flawed.

I'd like to ask you a question about the fact that the young people doing the volunteering will be compensated.

Unfortunately, the Canada summer jobs program was delayed, as was mentioned earlier. That hurt youth, who could have acquired work experience. I don't want to take away from the benefits of volunteering, but I'd like to know whether you think funding could have been allocated quickly to an existing program to help youth.

[Paula Speevak]

I'm not sure I understand the question. I'm sorry.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

In a pandemic situation, it's important to value volunteer work, which should be done on a voluntary basis. It's also possible to compensate those who volunteer. That being said, would it not have been advisable to enhance the existing system right away?

[Paula Speevak]

In Canada and in many countries around the world, we are really fortunate that people are very generous of spirit, particularly in emergencies and difficult times. An abundance of individuals have stepped forward, willing to volunteer. As I mentioned, many systems have been set up by provinces and regions and locally, where there's been a call to volunteer, and thousands and thousands of people have come forward. It's human nature that when you can do something to make the world better, you want to do it. The motivation and inspiration for volunteers is to help others.

In terms of an incentive, my sense is that people do not need an incentive in order to come forward and that people, including youth, are doing that. Youth are very generous in wanting to ensure that the communities where they live and the planet they live on are thriving. I don't think an incentive is needed. My sense is that we are very lucky to have thousands and thousands of people coming forward to volunteer.

For students who need financial assistance, I think that can be handled, again, through grants separately, thereby also giving the message to those who are interested in volunteering that there are some opportunities that can be checked out, but not to connect them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

You have time for a quick question, Ms. Gaudreau.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Speevak. You did a great job answering my question. That brings me to my next question.

As far as administering volunteer opportunities is concerned, how is government assistance perceived versus support provided otherwise? Volunteering is something a person wants to do voluntarily. You just said it was an incentive, but it wasn't necessary.

[Paula Speevak]

My sense is that, again, when we look at the three things that seemed to be put forward as good intentions—helping communities in need of volunteers, helping students in need of funds and making volunteer opportunities accessible to youth—those are three things that many of us would support wholeheartedly. I think in intermeshing them the way they have been, that has created the problem.

My sense is that we could find a way to provide a grant to students, based on their needs and circumstances or based on the availability. At the same time, make the opportunities known to youth. If that's a possibility, students certainly can be involved in communities. For organizations that need help, we could consider the resiliency fund for organizations.