Revised Community Involvement Graduation Requirement

For students who are graduating in the 2021-2022 school year, the Ministry of Education reduced the graduation requirement to a minimum of 20 hours of community involvement activities. The community involvement graduation requirement of 40 hours will be restored in 2022-2023. Students working towards their OSSD should make sure they meet these graduation requirements in time for their graduating year.

Students can start accumulating their community involvement hours in the summer before entering Grade 9.

Students may wish to consider virtual volunteering, such as connecting with seniors, organizing virtual fundraising events and facilitating discussions with newcomer youth. Outdoor volunteer opportunities could include, for example, picking up litter. Volunteer opportunities, such as connecting young people to be technology mentors to seniors, can be found through agencies such as Spark Ontario.

In addition, the Ministry is providing increased flexibility in how all secondary students can earn hours. At the principal’s discretion, students may count the following towards their community involvement hours:

• Up to 10 hours of paid employment if a student is 14 years or older and completes a reflection exercise demonstrating how their work contributed to their community

• Community involvement during school time, for example, walking a younger child to and from school or helping younger siblings with school work

• Duties normally performed at home, for example, helping an elderly relative with errands or providing after school care for a sibling

These hours spent in the community are meant to encourage students to:

• Develop an awareness and understanding of civic responsibility

• Understand the role they play and contributions they can make to support and strengthen the community

• Learn more about themselves and possible career opportunities

Community Involvement Activity Record

Make sure you keep your Community Involvement Activity Record forms up-to-date with the proper information and signatures. You must submit your completed records to your school for data entry.

Requirements

These community activities must:

• Be completed outside scheduled class time

• Not be a part of a credit course

• Be unpaid

• Total a minimum of 40 hours

• Be complete by the end of grade 12

Eligible activities

The Ministry and DDSB have developed a list of activities students may (eligible) or may not (ineligible) choose. Click here for a comprehensive list of eligible activities and suggestions

Opportunities

If you're unsure what you want to do for your community hours, check out Volunteer Durham and Youth Opportunities Ontario.