Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer Opportunities
OHS volunteers help give Ottawa’s animals a brighter future and make our community a more humane place for all. If you are interested in joining our volunteer team, and making a difference for Ottawa’s animals, please review the volunteer opportunities and follow the application instructions.
Please note: Applications will not be processed for programs that are not open for recruitment. We have a limited number of available openings, and applicants must meet the volunteer requirements to be considered for an interview. We thank all applicants for applying, however, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.
Current Volunteer Opportunities at the OHS
Volunteer: Foster Program
The OHS relies on the dedication of foster volunteers to aid in the recovery of animals who may not be ready for adoption due to medical or behavioral reasons. Foster volunteers temporarily care for animals in their home until the animals are ready to be adopted. The goal of the Foster Program is to provide the animals in our care with an opportunity for a happy and healthy future. Currently, we are specifically seeking foster homes who are able and willing to take on larger dog placements.
Youth Foster Volunteer
Rabbits at the OHS often benefit from time spent in a loving home, away from the busy shelter environment, while waiting to find their forever homes. In this program, youth learn about animal care and enrichment, then provide a loving foster home for a rabbit in need to earn Ontario Community Involvement Hours required for graduation.
Bar Service Volunteer: HOPE Volleyball Charity Tournament
As a Bar Service Volunteer at the HOPE Volleyball Charity Tournament, you’ll keep the energy high and the drinks flowing, all while making a real impact for animals in need. Your efforts help create an unforgettable event and support the OHS’s lifesaving work.
Volunteer: OHS Driver
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for four volunteers to provide driving assistance for various OHS events, or other driving tasks, as needed. Driving may be both within and outside the Ottawa area and includes transporting animals to and from the OHS.
Volunteer: Wiggle Waggle Walk & Run
Support the biggest event for Ottawa’s animals! We’re looking for volunteers to fill a number of roles, including set-up/takedown, registration attendants, mascots, route marshals and so much more. Shifts are available before and after the event, as well as the day-of.
Volunteer: Development Office
We are looking for volunteers who are interested in supporting the animals by doing administration, phone calls and data entry in our Development office. Volunteers are responsible for varies of tasks within the Raiser’s Edge database. Depending on priority, tasks include donation processing, database clean up, returned mail, phone calls, scanning and filing. Apply today!
Foster Program Assistant
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers who are interested in working closely with our foster team prepping and packaging foster office supplies and select office/administration projects.
Volunteer: Office Volunteer – Administration Area
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers who are interested in working closely with our administrative team! Administration and office support volunteers will work closely with the various departments on selected office support and administrative tasks.
Volunteer: Community Services
Are you interested in helping animals while supporting families in the community facing financial hardship? If so, the community services volunteer role might be the right fit for you.
Volunteer: Kitchen/Laundry Support
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers to help support the health and wellbeing of animals in our care by keeping our kitchen and laundry areas clean, organized, and well-stocked. Volunteers in this role assist with washing and folding laundry, sanitizing dishes and supplies, and maintaining a tidy workspace. If you’re detail-oriented, comfortable working around animals, and enjoy hands-on tasks, this could be a great fit for you!
Other Opportunities: Not Currently Recruiting
Thank you for your interest in wanting to donate your time and skills to helping the animals in our care. Fortunately, the following programs are well supported by volunteers and we are not able to accept applications for these positions at this time.
The OHS is a busy place, and volunteer needs are always changing. If you are interested in joining one of these programs, please visit our website in the near future to see if the program status has changed. Again, thank you for your interest.
Volunteer: Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is the governance body of OHS. On behalf of the community, and representing the members of OHS, the Board provides the strategic direction, resources, and high-level oversight for the organization to be successful in achieving its mission and goals.
Volunteer: Program Animal Handler
Do you and your companion animal enjoy visiting new places and meeting new people? If so the Program Animal Handler volunteer role might be the right fit for you!
Volunteer: Videographer
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for experienced volunteer videographers! Videographers better capture the work that we do, highlighting animals we have for adoption, profiling OHS events, and more. With this program, volunteers donate their time and talents to create, shoot and edit videos to promote OHS programs and services based on identified priorities, as directed by manager: communications.
Volunteer: Photographer
If you have experience taking portrait-style photographs, enjoy meeting new people and their pets and are able to stage and capture a wonderful family photo, we need you!
Volunteer: Adoptions Photography Assistant
The adoptions team is looking for a photographer to support the department by taking photos of adoptable animals for the OHS website.
Volunteer: Translation Program
Experienced volunteers are needed to help the OHS translate documents from English to French, to help us achieve our goal of providing OHS materials in both official languages. Volunteers are able to work from home, at their leisure, consistent with pre-established deadlines.
Volunteer: Finance
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers who are interested in working closely with our finance team on select office/administration projects.
Office Volunteer: Event Support
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers who are interested in working closely with our events team on select office/administration projects and donor stewardship initiatives at our Development office (9 Capella Court). All tasks will support OHS signature events, community events, the OHS wedding program and other fundraising initiatives (e.g. Warm Hearts Raffle).
Volunteer: Canine Behaviour Intervention Program
Interested in helping OHS dogs become better canine citizens? Some dogs need a little help adjusting to the shelter environment before finding their forever home or they need some basic training to help them get adopted more quickly.
Volunteer: PAW Stewardship
We are looking for positive and enthusiastic volunteers to join our team. Come help us call donors to thank them for supporting the animals, share the heartwarming animal stories we experience at the OHS, and ensure donors know the value in the difference they make each and every day! Volunteers will be responsible for various tasks that may range from phone calls, handwritten letters, handling mail/paperwork, and working in the Raiser’s Edge database. Apply today!
Volunteer: Pet Adoption Location (PAL) Driver/Delivery
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for three volunteers to assist our PAL team with delivering animals to PAL partner locations throughout the city of Ottawa (e.g. Pet Smart and Pet Valu locations).
Volunteer: Electronic Giving
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers who are interested in working closely with our development and administrative team! Administration and office support volunteers will work closely with the various departments on selected office support and administrative tasks.
Volunteer: Buddy & Belle Boutique
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is seeking enthusiastic and outgoing people to help support our retail store—the Buddy & Belle Boutique. If you enjoy meeting new people and helping them with their shopping experience than this is the opportunity for you!
Small Animal Enrichment Volunteer; Rabbit and Guinea Pig
The OHS Volunteer department is seeking reliable, patient, and knowledgeable people to provide basic enrichment and socialization to rabbits and guinea pigs at the OHS.
Volunteer: Feline Enrichment Volunteer Advanced In-Kennel Enrichment (A.I.K.E.) Program
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers who are interested in working closely with our animal care team! With this program, volunteers are responsible for providing enrichment to felines in the form of socialization, play, exercise, visual stimulation and mild grooming.
Volunteer: Feline Enrichment Four on the Floor Program
The Ottawa Humane Society’s Volunteer Department is looking for volunteers who are interested in working closely with our animal care team! This new OHS program will provide out-of-cage time to cats in need in order to maximize their daily physical and psychological well-being, prevent stress-related illness, and increase adoptability.
Volunteer: Canine Enrichment
The OHS Volunteer department is seeking reliable, patient, and knowledgeable people with experience handling large, energetic canines to walk dogs, offer basic enrichment, encourage basic obedience (“sit”, “down”, and loose-leash walking), and follow behaviour modification plan instructions for dogs in the shelter. In many cases, these dogs are new to the shelter (and therefore more stressed) and will have had less time with Canine Intervention and/or Enrichment Volunteers to practice good behaviors.
Youth Camp Volunteer Program
The youth volunteer program is designed to provide a meaningful hands-on opportunity at the OHS for youth ages 14-18, with an interest in animal welfare. The program allows qualified successful candidates the opportunity to work with our camp staff, in facilitating camp programming for children ages 6-12. For the youth involved, participation in this program provides them with mentorship from OHS staff, experience working with children, an opportunity to volunteer in an animal-related field, and the ability to complete their 40 hours community service.
