Canada
Here at Workaway you will find 500+ hosts and
organisations for volunteer work
in Canada.
Low cost travel without having to pay expensive agency fees.
Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grand Prairie, Fort McMurray, Camrose, Brooks, Wetaskiwin
Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Prince George, Chilliwack, Penticton, Campbell River
Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson, Selkirk, Steinbach, Dauphin, Flin Flon, Norway House, The Pas, Nelson House
Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Edmundston, Bathurst
St. John's, Corner Brook, Labrador City, Stephenville, Happy Valley - Goose Bay, Deer Lake, Gander, Channel-Port aux Basques, Port Burwell, Nain
Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik, Fort McPherson, Tuktoyaktuk, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope, Holman, Fort Resolution, Deline
Halifax, Sydney, New Glasgow, Amherst, Yarmouth, Antigonish, Liverpool, Windsor, Digby, Shelburne
Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Arviat, Igloolik, Baker Lake, Pond Inlet, Cambridge Bay, Cape Dorset, Pangnirtung, Kugluktuk
Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, Oshawa, London, Windsor, Barrie, Sudbury, Sarnia
Charlottetown
Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Swift Current, Yorkton, Weyburn, Meadow Lake, Kindersley
Here you will find 12 last minute opportunities for volunteering in Canada from Hosts that have indicated that they require help immediately.
See the latest updates and news from our hosts in Canada
Checkout new hosts that have signed up and are offering volunteering spots
Checkout new hosts that have signed up and are offering volunteering spots
Connect with Workawayers travelling to Canada and looking for travel buddies
There are 9824 reviews for 500+ Hosts and organizations in Canada.
500+ Hosts in Canada were rated at least 4.9/5!
Registering as a Host
Registering as a host with workaway.info is completely free of charge.
Workaway.info has been set up to promote and encourage exchange and learning. Hosts on Workaway should be interested in cultural exchange and sharing experiences. They should be able to provide a welcoming friendly environment for visitors as well as offering accommodation and food.
Register to be a hostIt’s hard to imagine how big Canada is – but after flying over the empty Canadian Shield for 2 hours in the general direction of Toronto, you start to get an idea. It’s huge! (In fact, only Russia is bigger.) Famous for maple syrup, ice hockey, Niagara Falls, and for being one of the safest countries in the world, it’s simply not possible to do justice to Canada in a single trip: six time zones and more than 5000 kilometres separate St. John's, Newfoundland from Victoria, British Columbia, and a flight from Toronto to Vancouver takes over 4 hours.
Thank goodness then for Workaway, and the Workaway hosts based all over the country! As a Workaway volunteer you can explore Canada in an affordable way, have an unforgettable summer or a unique gap year, do something meaningful, learn new skills, meet people and make friends for life.
Canada’s sheer size leads to enormous variations in climate and landscape, so plan your packing well, visit our Blog to get packing hacks and other advice and tips from seasoned Workawayers, and read on for more Canada-specific help and hints.
Winters in Canada can be harsh, but the most populated region, southern Ontario, has a less severe climate. Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, is just south of the Arctic Circle and is very cold all year round, except for the months of July and August – although the July average maximum is still only 12°C. On the other hand, the coastlines of British Columbia are very mild for their latitude, remaining above freezing for most of winter, yet they are not far away from some of the largest mountain glaciers to be found on the continent.
Summers in the most populated parts of Canada are generally short and hot, and temperatures over 35°C (95°F) are not unusual in southern Canada, with summers in the southern parts of Ontario and Quebec (including Montreal) often hot and humid.
First-time visitors to the country will also be surprised by Canada’s diversity. It’s a nation of contrasts: vast swathes of the country are practically uninhabited, and most of the nation’s 35 million inhabitants live in the southern half, in urban areas, relatively close to the country’s border with the USA.
Like the USA, Canada is home to peoples of varied cultures and backgrounds, with communities established by wave after wave of immigrant groups who now far outnumber the continent’s First Nation peoples. But Canadians seem to have made it work – three of Canada’s cities are in the top ten of the 2017 list of Most Liveable Cities in the World (Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary), and the country is number seven on the list of happiest countries in the world.
For the visitor, the resulting blend is an exotic range of cultural, artistic and culinary experiences, ranging from Vancouver’s huge Chinatown, the Inuit heartlands of the far north, the French-speaking culture of Quebec and the Celtic music of the Maritimes. For the volunteer backpacking abroad, this diversity translates to an exciting range of volunteering opportunities for solo travellers, couples and families; with families or in NGOs and communities; from farm stays caring for animals or learning about permaculture, to exciting times spent in cities, helping in hostels, caring for children or learning/teaching languages.
To help you plan a visit to Canada, we have broken the country down into six distinct regions. Choose your area to explore, and then browse the more than 2000 Workaway hosts based all over the country, in both rural and urban locations, to find the perfect base for your trip.
One of the first areas to be settled by European immigrants, Atlantic Canada is rich in architecture dating back to colonial times and is well-known for the historic beauty of towns like Halifax, with the second largest natural harbour in the world, areas of great natural beauty (particularly around the coast), and a huge fishing and shipping industry.
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Originally settled as part of New France, Quebec is culturally distinct from the rest of Canada. French is the dominant language, and Montreal is the second largest French-speaking city in the world. The province is known for great cultural activities, Montreal's classic architecture, and maple syrup and poutine (two staples of Canadian cuisine).
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Canada's most populous province is also enormous. Canada has more lakes than any other country – about 3 million. The province of Ontario alone contains about a third of the world's freshwater, spread over 250,000 lakes, and according to National Geographic, this makes it the top summer vacation spot in the world: specifically Muskoka Cottage Country, where people head out to live the simple life on the shores of the lakes to the north of Toronto. In contrast, Toronto, Canada's largest city, is eclectic and vibrant, and prides itself on its multiculturalism. This diversity means that Ontario showcases a lot of what is considered quintessentially Canadian by outsiders.
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Known for their vast open spaces and plentiful resources, the Canadian Prairies are a dynamic set of provinces home to some of the most stunning natural beauty in the world. To the west, at the edge of Alberta lie the Rocky Mountains, and the national parks of Banff and Jasper, and on the eastern edge in Manitoba, lies the beginning of the Canadian Shield, which contains some of the oldest rock on the surface of the earth. Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg are modern cities with everything from massive rodeos to high-class museums.
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Colloquially known as "B.C.", this province prides itself on being beautiful. From cultured Vancouver, to charming Victoria, to the iconic ski slopes in Whistler, to the wineries of the Okanagan region, B.C. is filled with wonder, both natural and man-made. The province also has the mildest winters in Canada on average, especially in the coastal regions.
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The Territories are some of the most remote regions on Earth, and although they are better known for their unique fauna and landscapes, they also have some interesting human settlements, including Dawson City, a place that looks almost untouched from the Klondike Days (the gold rush of 1898), and Iqaluit, Canada's newest territorial capital, which is home to some interesting architecture adapted to the harsh climate of the North.
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Workaway is the world’s leading community for volunteering and cultural exchange. Lone travellers backpacking through Canada will find plenty of opportunities to meet and connect with the locals, but Workaway also offers many opportunities for couples, friends, families and groups. Workaway’s many hosts offer volunteers free accommodation and meals in exchange for a few hours of work a day, normally five days a week. This is the perfect way to make travelling affordable in Canada, or to extend your stay. Whether you want to visit Canada’s lively, diverse cities, or get right off the beaten track and immerse yourself in wild nature and local life, the perfect host is waiting to welcome you. It doesn’t matter whether you are exploring during your summer holidays, or seeking a gap year adventure, the volunteering opportunities are almost unlimited and will guarantee you have the time of your life.
As a member of the Workaway community you can use the many thousands of reviews and feedback provided to find your perfect match among our hosts. Share your culture, skills and language with the communities, projects and families that offer a wide range of volunteer programmes, volunteer projects and volunteer jobs. If you want to take a backpacking trip through the heart of Canada, use our regional filter to check out the many offers far away from the usual tourist spots. Combining these more off-the-beaten-track opportunities with a stay with some of the many host families and organizations in Canada’s towns and cities is the ideal way to enjoy the country’s diversity.
Who doesn’t enjoy going on holiday and relaxing in a tourist hotspot? However, travellers who want to connect more deeply with the host country and make a real difference will find perfect opportunities to do this by joining Workaway. Do you want to find out more about the culture of Canada? Volunteering is the perfect vehicle for cultural exchange, providing the traveller with a truly memorable experience while doing something useful, like helping to restore an old building, helping with household tasks, or caring for children or animals. Working and travelling in Canada is the perfect opportunity to get to know this unique country, its nature and its people.
If you are planning to visit Canada as a volunteer and not as a tourist, you must have the correct visa. To find out about the latest requirements, you need to contact the Canadian Embassy in your home country before travelling. And please don’t forget to take out appropriate insurance to make sure you qualify for healthcare!
It’s practically impossible to do justice to a country as large as Canada in words – so if you want to find out more before visiting, check out this infographic, arm yourself with some insane facts, join Workaway and get planning your trip!
