Ottawa student guide
How to get your 40 volunteer hours in Ottawa
This guide explains the 40-hour community involvement requirement for the OSSD, which activities can qualify, and where to check approval and submission procedures at your school. Your guidance office decides whether your activity and documentation meet its requirements.
The 40-hour rule, in plain English
To earn the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, every student must complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement — unpaid volunteer work that benefits the community. You can start the summer before Grade 9 and must finish before graduating. The requirement itself is provincial, so it is identical at all four Ottawa boards: OCDSB (English public), OCSB (English Catholic), CECCE (French Catholic) and CEPEO (French public). What differs is how each board wants the hours approved and handed in.
What counts
Eligible activities are a service you provide to meet a real community need, in a safe setting. That includes work with:
- Not-for-profit and charitable organizations
- Hospitals and long-term care facilities
- Public-sector institutions (libraries, the offices of local, provincial, or federal representatives)
- Religious, cultural, and community events
- First Nation, Métis, and Inuit communities and organizations
What doesn’t count
Some activities are specifically excluded by the Ministry. Avoid logging:
- Anything you’re paid for, or work normally done for wages
- A requirement of a course (e.g. co-op or experiential learning)
- Activities during scheduled classes or other instructional time
- Operating a vehicle or power tools, or administering medication
- Handling money/valuables at a bank, or duties needing a regulated tradesperson
- Chores normally done at home, or court-ordered programs
Each board keeps its own approved-activity list, so when in doubt, check with your guidance counsellor before you start.
Check your school’s approval process first
Check the eligible-activity list and any approval steps before your first shift. Hours can be refused if required approval is missing. Board guidance and school submission procedures can differ; the links below lead to the published board or school source.
| Board | Approval before you start? | Handing it in |
|---|---|---|
| OCDSBEnglish public | Activities outside the board’s approved list need written permission from the principal or designate before starting. Check the task, not just the organization. | Completion sheet to your guidance office. |
| OCSBEnglish Catholic | Only if the activity isn’t on the eligible list — and then it can’t start until permission is granted. | By the first week of January or June to land on that term’s report card. A non-parent supervisor must verify. |
| CECCEFrench Catholic · School example | Published school guidance asks students to check eligibility with guidance or the principal. Confirm your own school’s approval steps before starting. | Use your school’s form and submission deadline; ask guidance for the current process. |
| CEPEOFrench public | Before starting, have guidance validate the activity and school administration approve it. | Validation form to the guidance office once complete. |
School deadlines can differ within a board. For example, Louis-Riel (CEPEO) requires submission within six months. Use your own school’s deadline rather than another school’s limit. Ask guidance about approval and documentation. Easy 40 cannot approve an activity or prove that you attended.
How to submit your hours
Use the form or submission process your school requires. Ask the organization to confirm the dates and completed hours, keep a copy, and submit the record to your guidance office. Your school decides whether the activity and documentation meet its requirements. Bring any required form and ask for signoff before leaving the shift, or agree how it will be completed.
If nobody is available to sign at the end of a shift, ask who can confirm your completed hours and how to contact them. Save the dates, duties and supervisor details, then ask your school which form or other documentation it accepts. Do not assume a missing signature means the hours are automatically lost, or that an email will automatically be accepted.
OCSB requires a non-parent supervisor to verify the activity and completed hours. Its record also requires a parent or guardian signature for students under 18. These are different roles: parental permission does not replace confirmation from the person who supervised the volunteering.
The easy way to do it
Easy 40 gathers Ottawa volunteer opportunities into one student-friendly place and tells you where to apply. You can also keep a private running total toward 40. The organization and your school still handle the official part: acceptance, attendance, eligibility, and the letter, email, or signed form your guidance office requires.
Going past 40 hours
If you complete 50 or more hours, you may be eligible for the Minister’s Certificate of Recognition for Community Involvement — provincial recognition (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) for documented volunteering beyond the graduation minimum. Check your school’s application and verification process.
Common questions
When can I start earning my 40 hours?
You can begin counting community involvement hours the summer before you start Grade 9. They don’t have to wait until school starts — a summer volunteer shift before Grade 9 counts.
What is the deadline to finish?
You must complete all 40 hours before graduating to receive your OSSD. Spreading the hours across your remaining school years can make the requirement easier to manage.
Do hours I earned in another city count?
Yes. The 40-hour requirement is provincial, not city-specific. Hours volunteered anywhere in Ontario (or recognized by your school board) count toward your OSSD as long as the activity is eligible and properly documented.
I volunteered but never got my sheet signed. Are those hours gone?
Not automatically. Ask the organization to confirm your dates, duties, completed hours and supervisor contact details. Ask your guidance office what documentation it will accept and whether any required approval was obtained. Acceptance is not guaranteed, but a missing signature is a reason to follow up, not to assume your hours are lost. For future shifts, arrange supervisor signoff before you leave.
What if I lose my signed paper form?
Ask the organization to re-sign a copy or confirm the date and hours by email. Going forward, take a photo of every signed form and save organization emails in one folder. Easy 40 can help you remember the opportunity and your running total, but it is not the official proof your school receives.
Does Ottawa have a separate deadline for submitting hours?
There is no single Ottawa-wide submission date. OCSB asks for records by the first week of January or June for report cards. Other deadlines depend on your school: Louis-Riel, a CEPEO school, publishes a six-month submission limit. Do not treat that as a deadline for every CEPEO or CECCE school. Confirm your own school’s process and submit completed hours as you go.
Do I need permission before I start volunteering?
Check your school’s process before starting. CEPEO explicitly requires guidance validation and school-administration approval before the activity. CECCE school guidance directs students to guidance or the principal to check eligibility; confirm your own school’s approval steps. OCDSB and OCSB require prior approval for activities outside their approved lists. Non-profit status alone does not make every task eligible.
Sources: the Ontario Ministry of Education’s high-school volunteer hours guidance and the OCDSB community involvement requirements. Always confirm specifics with your own school’s guidance office.