Become a Volunteer

“Volunteers truly personify the core values of The Ottawa Hospital; their compassion, commitment to quality, teamwork and respect demonstrate every day how one person’s actions can make a significant difference in the lives of our patients and our staff.”

– Dr. Jack Kitts, President & CEO, The Ottawa Hospital

At The Ottawa Hospital, more than 1400 men, women, and young people are actively involved as volunteer association members, working to help fulfill the hospital’s vision, mission, and values.

Our volunteers represent diverse cultures, age groups, abilities, and life experiences. Some are looking ahead to future careers in health care; others are looking back over the rich life experiences that have equipped them for their role as volunteers. Whatever their backgrounds, all of our volunteers are working to enhance the quality of care offered in our hospital. Our volunteers truly are People Helping People.

Thinking about volunteering? All you need is a willingness to help people, a little time to share and a desire to challenge yourself. Your gift of time and energy would be invaluable to our patients and staff.

Retirees

Retirees share their stories about why they volunteer at The Ottawa Hospital.

• CTV Morning Live 2019
• CTV Morning Live Interview 2018

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with The Ottawa Hospital where it is our vision to provide each patient with the world-class care, exceptional service, and compassion that we would want for our loved ones.

Commitment and Qualifications

• Eight-month commitment (50 hour minimum for summer students). Cottagers and snowbirds are welcome!
• Most assignments require one shift of 3-4 hours per week.
• Desire to provide EXCELLENT customer service at all times
• Excellent at working in a cooperative team environment
• Eager to participate in courses and change practices in continuous pursuit of excellence
• Age requirements: 16 yrs and up

Timelines

To ensure the best quality of volunteers and services offered, we have a thorough screening and training process. If a good fit is found for your interests and availability, it can take 1 to 2 months to start volunteering. Please note that in order for information to be current, we keep applications for a period of four months, after which, you need to re-apply.

Steps to Become a Volunteer

• Application: Fill-out an online Application using the link below
• Screening: If your interests and availability match our current needs, our Pre-Screening volunteer team (who screen over 1,000 applications a year) will contact you to find out a little bit more about you
• References: You will need to provide two references (no family or friends, please)
• Interview: If it is determined that you are a good fit for our current needs, an interview will be scheduled with one of the site coordinators
• Next Steps: If you are given an assignment – The next steps are:
  • TB testing – free of charge at the hospital
  • Criminal records check (for 18 years+) – $10 fee will be charged by the Ottawa Police as of September 1^st, 2019 for volunteers with a letter from their place of volunteering (fees could be higher outside Ottawa, talk about with your Coordinator)
  • Photo ID and uniform – $20 deposit required
    • We are an inclusive team; if you have any barriers to completing these steps, please talk to the Coordinator