Declining volunteers increasing risk to rural municipalities: report

Volunteers working at Edmonton's Food Bank. April 28, 2020. (CTV News Edmonton)

From victim services to hockey rinks to libraries to municipal committees, volunteers keep many organizations and services in rural Alberta up and running.

Plummeting numbers of volunteers, however, have led to a crisis that threatens the sustainability of rural communities.

Volunteer rates are declining across Canada. According to a report from Volunteer Canada, 65 per cent of non-profits are experiencing a shortage of volunteers, forcing one-third of organizations to reduce the services they offer.

Though this trend affects every part of the country, rural communities are more likely to depend on volunteers to provide programs and services that are delivered by the municipality itself in larger centres.

Researchers from the University of Alberta’s Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities interviewed representatives from across the province about the decline in volunteerism, and found the province’s towns and counties are already struggling to compensate for the essential role volunteers once played.

"There is now little doubt that the persistent decline in the capacity of volunteer organizations in rural Alberta represents a significant threat to rural municipalities across the province," the report from Clark Banack and Meredith Jevne says.

There are several interrelated reasons for the shrinking pool of volunteers. As long-time volunteers relinquish some of their responsibilities, few replacements from younger generations are stepping forward to take their place.

"I’m not sure what it is, but people are dropping off. And it seems like it’s always the same ten people who are doing things, getting involved. And yeah, it’s kind of stressful, to be honest," one long-time rural volunteer told the researchers.

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Interviewees consistently complained of a generational shift in values and a declining commitment to community that once sustained local organizations.

Along with this perceived change in values among youth, the researchers heard that newcomers to rural communities often come with different expectations about what services should be available and whose job it is to provide them.

More people have moved from cities to rural areas in recent years, and "these newcomers likely assume that the performance of such tasks are simply the job of the municipality, in the same way they were in the city from which they came," the authors noted.

Because many non-profit organizations are struggling with tasks like facilities management and program delivery, municipalities have increasingly had to dedicate more funds and support from their own budgets.

One councillor recognized that while it could be expensive to subsidize local organizations in one way or another, the cost was a fraction of what it would be if the county had to take over the program entirely.

"If we don’t, as a municipality, continue to fund this one, well, it very well might not be here next year. But, if the county has to run these, you know, it’s going to cost a lot more, and where’s that money going to come from?"

The report makes several recommendations to the Government of Alberta, such as adequately funding municipalities to account for the additional costs they are incurring due to declining volunteerism.

It also suggests new tax incentives, promotional campaigns, and youth education as ways to help rekindle community involvement.