Volunteer fair shows students how community engagement can help develop experience
The Centre for Work-Integrated Learning and the Centre for Career Development collaborate to connect students with meaningful volunteer experiences.
By: Matthew King (he/him)
More than 30 community organizations filled the Student Life Centre’s Great Hall on Tuesday, October 28, for the Volunteer Fair. Each fall and winter term, the fair helps students gain hands-on experience, explore their interests and build skills that complement their academic journey.
The fair is co-hosted by the Centre for Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and the Centre for Career Development (CCD). It showcases how volunteering contributes to personal growth and career readiness. From health care and education to sustainability and social services, organizations offered a range of opportunities that let students apply their learning beyond the classroom.
“Recognizing the challenging job market, volunteering presents a great opportunity for students to gain valuable job experience and even references,” says Emily Vincent, who works in community engagement with Volunteer Waterloo Region.
“Volunteering represents an indication of someone willing to go above and beyond, to make a time commitment, especially being so busy going through school at the same time.”
For the Centre for WIL, the Volunteer Fair reflects a commitment to expanding experiential learning pathways for all students—whether they are in co-op, EDGE or other forms of work-integrated and community-based learning.
The event is part of a broader effort to help students apply their academic knowledge to real-world settings while developing transferable skills such as communication, leadership and teamwork.
Gator from National Service Dogs poses for a photo at the volunteer fair.
Volunteers are the reason we can do so much of what we do. They create an environment that people want to be a part of. We’ve seen Waterloo students really exemplify our mandate, which is art and technology at play.
“I volunteer with Waterloo Region Health Network’s Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) because I have a personal interest in elder care, but also having a pre-professional school opportunity is really important,” says Alex Truong, an Honours Science student and volunteer at the Waterloo Region Health Network’s HELP. “It’s a great opportunity to reinforce your interests or career aspirations.”
From giving back to moving forward
The fair continues to deliver strong results for participating organizations. It helps them both attract new volunteers and raise awareness of their missions across campus. Many organizations bring sign-up sheets or QR codes to help students take steps towards getting involved on the spot.
“Our volunteer program is really a collaboration between Waterloo Region Health Network and the University of Waterloo. Waterloo students are reliable and bring energy to our program,” says Sarah Bourbonniere, elder life specialist with Waterloo Region Health Network. “Our volunteers showing up gives me hope knowing we have people coming in to care and help support our patients.”
The Volunteer Fair also underscores the value of community engagement as part of the Waterloo experience. For many students, volunteering serves as an introduction to experiential learning, opening the door to future opportunities.
“I like to say you put in a little bit of time now, but you don’t know what it leads to,” says Raas Siddiqui, volunteer relations lead at Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health. "We are people-centred, so students are able to develop a lot of soft skills and develop a network that can benefit them in the future.”
Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health booth at the volunteer fair.
Building a sense of (co-op) community
The fair builds on a strong and growing partnership between CCD and the University’s EDGE program, which supports regular-stream students in developing experience through community engagement and reflection. EDGE students can use volunteer experiences to meet their work or community experience requirements.
The collaboration brings together co-op students, EDGE ambassadors and staff from both departments to coordinate outreach, logistics and event promotion.
Working with EDGE has allowed us to pool our resources and make the fair even stronger. It’s a true partnership that helps us reach more students and connect them with meaningful experiences.
Students talking with an organization at the volunteer fair.
As the fair wrapped up, what stood out most was the sense of community it fostered among students eager to contribute, organizations passionate about their causes and campus partners committed to making experiential learning accessible for all.
The volunteer fair is more than a single-day event; it’s a reminder of how meaningful connections can spark growth, learning and a lasting impact both on campus and in the wider community.