Based on Statistics Canada’s Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 2023 (Tables 45-10-0039-01 and 45-10-0040-01) 

Young Canadians are the most likely age group to volunteer in Canada, and that fact deserves genuine recognition. At a moment when national volunteer rates have declined and total hours have fallen by nearly 900 million since 2018, the continued high participation of youth is a foundation the sector can build on. 

But the 2023 Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (SGVP) reveals a more complex picture. Youth volunteer at high rates and low depth, give far fewer hours than older cohorts, and are withdrawing from formal organized volunteering at the fastest pace of any age group. For the 25 to 34 cohort, a broader disengagement from all forms of volunteering points to structural pressures that go beyond anything organizations can address through program design alone.