Volunteering Databases to Find Communication Opportunities in Ottawa

Are you stuck in that loop of looking for professional experience in the field of Communication but not having enough experience to get said experience? Volunteering may be the answer…

You may have already read my previous post on volunteering opportunities on campus that may interest Communication students. Though some of those are still relevant, the list is outdated. In this post, I’ll show you how to find relevant volunteering opportunities using two databases: the Michaëlle Jean Community Engagement Navigator, Volunteer Ottawa, and the City of Ottawa.

Community Engagement Navigator

As a student at the University of Ottawa, you have access to the Michaëlle Jean Centre for Global and Community Engagement. The Centre has a navigator that allows you to browse through different volunteering opportunities throughout the school year. I have had some amazing volunteering experiences related to Communication thanks to this tool, so I highly suggest you check it out periodically.

Steps 1-3

Step 1: Log into uOzone

Step 2: Go to “Applications”

Step 3: Click on “Community Engagement Navigator”

Step 4: Go to “Placements” and select “EV (all students)”

Steps 4-5

Step 5: Fill out your desired search queries

Tip: to select multiple items from the “Placement Learning Objectives” and “Placement Sectors” lists, hold down the CTRL key.

To find opportunities in the field of Communication specifically, select everything under the Learning Objectives (do this by selecting the top item, scrolling to the bottom of the list, holding SHIFT, and then selecting the last item), and select “Marketing and Communications” plus any other sectors of interest under Placement Sectors.

Step 6: Apply to your desired placements. The organization will contact you using your uOttawa e-mail if you’re selected.

(Note: once a student and organization are paired, the listing is removed from the navigator, so make sure you’re not applying to too many placements)

Step 6

Volunteer Ottawa Database

Volunteer Ottawa provides opportunities to, as the name suggests, volunteer in Ottawa. Opportunities can be viewed by anyone.

Step 1: Head to the listings of the Volunteer Ottawa website.

Step 2: On desktop, head to the right pane to refine your search results. For Comms specific placements, go to “Preferred Type of Volunteering” and select options such as “Arts, Crafts and Photography”, “Communications and Marketing”, “Social Media” and “Writing”.

City of Ottawa

Listings can be found here. You can refine the results to find Comms-related opportunities under “The Type of Task”.

---

(Cover image credit: Thanks to @perrygrone for making this photo available freely on @unsplash 🎁 https://unsplash.com/photos/lbLgFFlADrY)