Terms of use

Niagara Volunteer Opportunities is a free directory. Organizations post what they need help with, and volunteers find them. That is the whole service, and it is free for everyone on both sides.

• Nobody at NVO screens or vets organizations, or the people who work or volunteer for them. There are no interviews, no background checks, and no visits.
• "Approved" does not mean "safe". A listing appears on the site once it meets our posting rules. That is a check on the listing, not a judgement about the organization.
• Placements are not supervised by anyone at NVO. Once you are volunteering, you are with that organization and they are responsible for your safety, training and supervision.
• Hours are not verified here. Your supervisor at the organization verifies them, a parent or guardian does too if you are under 18, and for high school students your principal records them. Nothing on this site is proof of hours.

• You must be 13 or older to apply through NVO.
• Check the minimum age on the listing. Many opportunities start higher, and Ontario sets legal minimum ages for some kinds of work.
• Get your principal's approval before you start, if you are in high school and the hours are going toward your diploma. Ontario's policy requires it, and it is the step people forget.
• Tell a parent or guardian where you are going, and expect an adult from the organization to be there.
• Use your own name and details. Do not apply on someone else's behalf.

If a listing asks you for money, wants personal information it has no reason to need, looks like an unpaid job, or makes you uncomfortable, use the report button on it. We read every report.

By posting a listing you confirm that:

• You screen and supervise your own volunteers, and you carry whatever insurance your activities need. Note that people under 18 generally cannot obtain a police record check in Niagara for a non-government role, so supervision by screened adults is what protects a volunteer under 18.
• The role is genuine volunteering. It is not work that would normally be paid, and it does not replace a paid position.
• The minimum age on your listing is accurate, and the work is legal for someone that age under Ontario's minimum working ages.
• You will not ask applicants for health information, financial details, immigration status, identity documents, or anything else you do not need to arrange the placement.
• You will use applicants' details only to arrange and run the placement, will not add them to a mailing list, and will delete exported files when you are done with them. Emergency contact details are for emergencies.
• You will sign off hours honestly, for the hours actually worked.

We can take down a listing, or an organization, at any time. Usually that follows a report, an inaccuracy, or one of the rules above being broken.

NVO is offered as it is, free of charge, with no guarantee that a listing is accurate, current, suitable or safe. Arrangements you make with an organization are between you and that organization.

To the extent the law allows, NVO is not responsible for what happens during a placement, for anything an organization does or fails to do, or for hours a school does not accept.

None of this is meant to limit anything that cannot be limited by law.

Questions about these terms, about your information, or about a listing: privacy@niagaravolunteer.ca, or use the contact page. How we handle your information is set out in the privacy policy.