​Students are required to complete 40 hours of community involvement activities as a component of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. These activities may be completed at any time during their years in the secondary school. The community involvement requirement is designed to encourage students to develop awareness and understanding of civic responsibility. The community involvement is to be completed outside of students' normal instructional hours. Students will maintain and provide a record of their community involvement activities using the Dufferin-Peel passport to Community Service. This document is the responsibility of the student. The dates and times of student participation must be confirmed by the organizations or supervising persons. Contact your local school for the process of distribution and collection.

Notwithstanding the requirement of 40 hours of community service to earn an OSSD, given the current conditions due to COVID-19, the following are ministry sanctioned modifications and board suggestions to help facilitate this valuable part the graduation requirements.

• ​​For students graduating in the 2021-22 school year, the community involvement graduation requirement is 20 hours of community involvement activities recognizing that last year students have had and may continue to have barriers to earning their hours.
  
  
• Students may wish to consider virtual volunteering, such as connecting with seniors (refer to Spark Ontario), or working in the larger community (refer to www.volunteer MBC) organizing virtual fundraising events and facilitating discussions with newcomer youth.  Outdoor volunteer opportunities could include, for example picking up litter.
  
  
• Students aged 14 years and older can count up to a maximum of 10 hours from paid employment towards their community involvement at the discretion of the principal.
  
  
• Students counting paid employment are required to complete a reflection exercise indicating how their work contributed to the service for others.

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In addition to the above, criteria and eligible activities and experiences shou​ld be in accordance with the policies and expectations of the board found with the Community Service Hours form.  Confirm acceptable and eligible experiences prior to participation.  Contact your guidance counsellor if uncertain.

Once ready to submit, email the following form:

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Alternatively, you may submit a letter from the supervisor of your experience including the number of hours volunteered, details of your responsibilities and activity, and contact information of the supervisor in case it is needed. From your board account, email the completed form or letter to guidance at carmsguidance@dpcdsb.org. Thereafter, unless clarification or confirmation is needed, your hours may be updated on your records, helping you take steps closer to earning your OSSD.

Student Volunteer Opportunities

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Ontario's new secondary school program requires all students to complete 40 hours of community involvement in order to graduate. This section of the Mt. Carmel web site is intended as a resource for students and parents.

Volunteer Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon

​​Volunteer MBC

Mississauga Volunteer Opportunities

​​Mississauga Recreation & Parks Volunteer

Peel Volunteer Opportunities

​Coming soon

Information for Parents and Students

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A Guide for Parents and Guardians

​Protecting Your Teen Volunteer

A Guide for Students

​Serve Your Community SAFELY

Information for Volunteers

​Ministry of Labour