The Requirements

The Employee 
• Provides his/her services without monetary compensation as an international volunteer
• Volunteers overseas for approximately two to three weeks
• Participates in two days of pre-departure training.
• Shares his/her knowledge and skills witha local partner during the assignment
• Communicates his/her experience with co-workers through presentations, newsletter articles, blogs, etc

The Employer
• Sponsors the employee and allows him/her to share the Leave for Change experience in the workplace
• Facilitates the volunteer selection process
• Permits employees to share their Leave for Change experience with co-workers before and after the assignment
• Contributes an amount that covers part of the costs of each employee assigment


Uniterra 
• Manages the volunteer selection process
• Provides pre-departure training and covers the following costs: insurance, airfare, and lodging
• Facilitates the volunteer’s integration into the local partner’s work team
• Coordinates transportation and other in-field logistics
• Monitors the well-being and security of the employee
•With the employer's approval, assists the Leave for Change volunteer with his/her communication activities

Congé solidaire

How to Get Involved

What is Leave for Change?
>> See our Current Postings <<

Leave for Change...

• Promotes and supports employee volunteerism in the developing world
• Encourages employees from participating companies and organizations to transform part of their annual leave into a 2 to 4 week volunteer assignment in a developing country
• Enables volunteers to donate their skills to an international development project with the support of professionals in the host country

Why participate in Leave for Change?

Everybody wins:
• Employers invest in the development of their human resources, thereby strengthening their competitiveness in Canada’s evolving work-force. They also demonstrate leadership in corporate social responsibility at international and local levels. Public recognition and employees morale increase as a result.
• Employees expand their personal and profes-sional horizons and acquire a deeper understanding of international development.
• Both contribute in a rapid and tangible way to a results-driven development project.
• Partner organizations in developing countries acquire valuable skills and working tools.

"Abbott has been a proud UNITERRA partner since 2005, the introduction of this international volunteer program fits perfectly with one of Abbott's core values "caring".  This program has allowed Abbott Canada to take corporate citizenship to another level and to demonstrate that commitment to our values by offering employees this unique opportunity.  Abbott Canada employees have experienced personal growth through this program and shared their experiences at company gatherings where they received standing ovations.  Some have on their return, engaged in their own fundraising and all of them felt that in their own way, they have made a difference in someone's life in Africa. Abbott was recognized as a Top 50 Employer for 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Uniterra program has certainly come through in our company surveys where our employees recognize we are active in the local and the international community."

Laurence L. Dotto
Director, Government & External Affairs, Abbott Canada


Video Testimonials of Volunteers and Partners

Watch these video testimonials from Uniterra volunteers and partners in Nepal and Vietnam documenting their experiences overseas and the ultimate impact felt in their lives.





More testimonial videos can be found on our Audiovisual section.

Also, visit the Stories of Corporate Partners section to read about other Leave for Change projects in which employees from different organisations contributed. Just click on the "Leave for Change/Stories of Corporate parteners" at the top of this page.

Types of Assignments and Desired Skills

All Leave for Change volunteers work with local partner organizations in the following sectors: Private Sector Development, Agriculture and Rural Development, HIV/AIDS, Basic Education, Health and Nutrition, and Youth Programming. As the needs of our development partners are diverse, so are the skills we look for in volunteers. They can include computer and internet training, accounting, business management, marketing, human resource management, youth leadership, engineering, communications and much more. Placements are offered in
Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso,Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Niger,
Senegal and Vietnam.

Current Canadian Partners
A. Lassonde Inc.
Abbott Canada
Armtec
BPR Energy
Canadian Medical Foundation
CGI
Deloitte & Touche
Fraser, Milner, Casgrain
Humber College
Nova Scotia Community College
Olymel
Rx&D
Solutions Modex
Sussex Circle
The Co-operators
Transat
University of Ottawa
University of British Columbia
University of Guelph
Ville de Montréal

Interested Employer?

Contact us to find out more about sponsoring your employees and becoming a partner of Leave for Change: infoL4C@wusc.ca

Interested employee?

Take a Leave for Change !
If you are an employee interested in volunteering with Leave for Change, your employer must first enter into an agreement with the program. Put a key resource person in touch with us to explore its potential involvement with Leave for Change by having them contact: infoL4C@wusc.ca