Volunteering at The Ottawa Hospital
Volunteer with us and help reshape the future of health care.
If you have a willingness to help people, some time to share and a desire to challenge yourself, we welcome you to apply to join our volunteer team at The Ottawa Hospital.
Your gifts of time, talent and energy are invaluable to patients, visitors and staff.
Our volunteers represent diverse cultures, age groups, abilities and life experiences. Some are looking ahead to a career in health care; others are looking to use past skills that have equipped them for their role as volunteers, but all our volunteers work to help make a difference in every patient and patient family's journey.
Please Note: Applications are temporarily closed
Due to a high volume of applications, we have temporarily paused volunteer intake and are not accepting new applications.
Volunteers are very special members of The Ottawa Hospital’s team, and we are so grateful that you are interested in joining us. When onboarding resumes, we will share a link to the volunteer application on this page.
Commitments and qualifications
We request that all volunteers:
- Be 16 years old or older, though opportunities for volunteers younger than 18 are limited.
- Commit to volunteering at the hospital for eight months. Cottagers and snowbirds are welcome.
- Accept one shift of three to four hours per week.
- Have the desire to always provide excellent customer service.
- Be outstanding at working in a cooperative team environment.
- Have an ongoing commitment to engage in learning opportunities and embrace best practices.
Volunteer roles and locations
We’re always developing new and exciting ways and places people can volunteer, and we welcome great new ideas from our volunteers, staff and patient families. Here are just some of them:
- Wayfinding (Info desk, entrance navigator and roaming volunteer).
- Recreational therapy.
- The Rehabilitation Centre.
- Virtual program (Info desk, courtesy calls, “chemo teach”).
- Inpatient and outpatient units (Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Eye Care Centre, Surgical Day Care Unit, Hemodialysis, Cancer Centre).
- Office helpers.
- Wellness Centre.
- Musical Moments.
- Transitional Care (offsite locations).
- Pet therapy (pet therapy volunteers must first be certified by either St John’s Ambulance or Ottawa Therapy Dogs to volunteer at The Ottawa Hospital).
- The Ottawa Hospital Auxiliary (TOHA).
A volunteer program that taps into the power of music
Studies have shown that music can benefit the body, mind, relationships and community. Musical Moments is a program where volunteers play live music to support positive outcomes for patients, visitors and staff.
The Ottawa Hospital Auxiliary
The Ottawa Hospital Auxiliary (TOHA) is a volunteer-led, non-profit organization that raises funds through its hospital shops, retail venues and other fundraising initiatives so that proceeds can be donated towards patient care and the hospital community.
In July of 2021, the Civic Campus Auxiliary (est. 1952), the Friends of the General (est. 1980) and the Riverside Campus Auxiliary (est. 1967) amalgamated to create TOHA. In April of 2025, The Rehabilitation Centre Volunteer Association (est. 1982) joined TOHA. TOHA now provides support across the three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital.
Since 2011, more than $16 million has been raised in support of the purchase of large pieces of medical equipment, general equipment, patient support services, as well as bursaries for education for our incredible nursing staff, and grants for research programs.
To learn more about volunteering with the Auxiliary, visit The Ottawa Hospital Auxiliary website.