VOLUNTEERS and THE LAW IN ALBERTA

Permission is granted to any nonprofit/voluntary sector organization to use the material, in whole or in part, for any non-commercial purpose, provided that credit is given to Volunteer Alberta. Permission for any other uses must be obtained from Volunteer Alberta.

Volunteer Alberta
#217 Birks Building
10113 104 Street
Edmonton AB
T5J 1A1

Phone 780-482-3300
Fax 780-482-3310
Toll Free in Alberta 1-877-915-6336

Email volab@volunteeralberta.ab.ca
www.volunteeralberta.ab.ca

FORWARD

Volunteer Alberta embarked on an update of the Volunteers and the Law publication with the help of funding from the Alberta Law Foundation and donated legal time from Pro Bono Students of Canada. Entitled Volunteers and the Law in Alberta Online, this resource will provide Alberta’s nonprofit/voluntary sector with an overview of the various areas of law and how they relate to organizations with a volunteer program, to the Board of Directors of such organizations, and to the volunteers themselves. It is not intended to provide legal advice or to replace the services of a lawyer, or to advise organizations or volunteers with respect to specific legal problems; for such problems it is recommended that a lawyer be contacted.

Instead, the intent of this resource is to increase awareness of the legal issues involved in incorporating volunteers into programs. With this awareness, organizations — their staff and Board Members — may want to develop or incorporate preventative measures to avoid legal problems for their organizations as well as their volunteers. In addition, with increased awareness of legal issues, organizations will be able to better judge when they require the services of a lawyer. As you read through this document, several general themes will become clear:

volunteers have rights as well as obligations;
organizations need to ensure that they have appropriate policies and procedures in place for volunteers, staff, and directors;
organizations as well as volunteers should have appropriate insurance coverage, and finally
all those involved in the voluntary sector need to be aware of the general duty to take reasonable care in all their actions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Volunteer Alberta gratefully acknowledges the generous donation from the Alberta Law Foundation which helped make a revised edition of Volunteers and the Law in Alberta a reality. In addition, we would like to acknowledge the following individuals who have contributed to the successful revision of this resource: Stephanie Chau, Brennan Clarkson, Nigel Forster and Elizabeth Liu from Pro Bono Students Canada for their knowledge and dedication contributed to the revision of this publication. Pro Bono Students of Canada for their outstanding program which has helped this project materialize. Thanks to the supervising lawyers W. Laird Hunter, Q.C. and Professor Ron Hopp who helped to ensure the publications accuracy and reliability. To the efforts of the Volunteer Alberta staff including Jesse Meyer, Lana Cuthbertson, Cindy Chow and Karen Lynch for their tireless commitment to providing Alberta’s nonprofit/voluntary sector with essential legal information. Volunteer Alberta sincerely thanks the Alberta Law Foundation for their financial support to this project.

Volunteer Alberta graciously recognizes those that played a vital role in the initial release of the Volunteers and the Law publication: Ali Moughel of Pro Bono Students Canada for his strong commitment in researching the data and putting pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) to create this resource. We would also like to recognize the excellent leadership, writing, and editing contributions of Georgeann Wilkin, in the capacity of supervising lawyer of this project and a former Volunteer Alberta Board Member. We also wish to thank the following focus group participants for their valuable work in reviewing this document: Deb Allard-Usunier, Sandy Biener, Pat Conrad, Michelle Dixon, Al Failing, Paul Fugishigi, Lois Gander, Cyndi Harvey, Wendy MacDonald, Ali Moughel, Lisa Scott, Ireen Slater, Glynis Thomas, Audelle White, Georgeann Wilkin, W. Laird Hunter, Volunteer Alberta Board Members.

Thank you to Marsha Mildon, (former) Editor of LawNow, for taking this work in progress with assorted input and styles and making it into a readable resource – she performed magic. A special thank you to The Muttart Foundation for their financial support to this project.

For more information please contact Volunteer Alberta at 1-877-915-6336 or visit our website at www.volunteeralberta.ab.ca

SOURCES

Canadian Association of Volunteer Bureaux and Centers. Screening Handbook. 1996.

Carter, Terrance. “Purpose of the Privacy Act.” 2001.

Gower, Karla & Satterfield, Mary. The Law and Volunteers: A Guide. Carp, On: Johnstone Training and Consultation: 1993.

Hunter, Laird. “Absolutely, probably, possibly, maybe...but what if?” LawNow October/November 1996.

Inions, Noela. “A Commentary on the Protection for Persons in Care Act.” 1999.

Kobewka, Sid. “Liability of the Helping Hand.”

LawNow, June/July 1999.

Miller, Shelley. “Volunteering for Trouble” LawNow, August/September 2001.

Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 2004, on the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy website, http://www.ccp.ca/

The People’s Law School. Volunteers & The Law. Vancouver: The People’s Law School, 2000.

PIPEDA: A Guide for Businesses and Organizations, Publisher: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. http://www.privcom.gc.ca/information/guide_e.asp

PIPA: A Guide for Businesses and Organizations: http://www.pipa.gov.ab.ca/index.cfm?page=resources/PIPAguide.html

PIPA: FAQs for Non-Profit Organizations: http://www.pipa.gov.ab.ca/index.cfm?page=faqs/NonProfitFAQs.html

Volunteer Canada. Federal Law and Social Policy on Volunteer Organizations. Government of Canada: 2001.

Volunteer Canada. Volunteerism and Immigration. Issues and Challenges: 2006.