Mr. Speaker, as my colleague from Hillsborough said, this week is National Volunteer Week, an opportunity to celebrate the tremendous contributions of volunteers to our communities across Canada.
Millions of Canadians give freely of their time to support non-profit, voluntary and charitable organizations. Their generosity and participation builds and maintains the quality of life in our towns and neighbourhoods. Every year Canadians contribute over $13 billion to charities and non-profit organizations. Approximately 13 million people volunteer their time each year in Canada. In my hometown of Hamilton, more than 100,000 volunteer their time and money every year.
On behalf of all my colleagues in the House of Commons, I want to thank all the volunteers for giving us some of their time.