Volunteer

Volunteer Program presented by Scotiabank

Volunteers from all backgrounds are welcome at the Museum—including you! Share cross-cultural experiences with fellow volunteers and learn about Canada’s immigration history. Meet new people in a vibrant atmosphere and become actively involved in your community. Gain marketable skills and share Canada’s immigration story as a volunteer at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. There’s no better place to feel Canadian.

Volunteers take on roles in many departments at the Museum, and the roles and projects available to volunteers are always growing and changing. The Museum’s volunteer opportunities are as diverse as the volunteers themselves!

Benefits

As a volunteer you will enjoy:

  • the training and support needed to make your volunteer experience rewarding
  • unlimited free admission to the Museum and temporary exhibitions
  • limited free Museum admission passes for friends and family
  • invitations to Museum activities, exhibition openings and recognition events
  • opportunities to meet and socialize with fellow volunteers and staff
  • 15% discount in the Museum Gift Shop and Gateway Café
  • complimentary parking during volunteer shifts
  • subscription to The Porthole, the Museum’s internal newsletter

Interested in joining our team?

Current Volunteer Opportunities:

Volunteer Greeter:

Apply here

For any volunteer-related questions, please contact acarter@pier21.ca

Our Volunteers Say...

It has been such a pleasure to work with staff who obviously enjoy what they are doing and who relate so well with all kinds of people. Pier 21 offers multiple opportunities for me to attend various activities…it is definitely more than just a volunteer job! There is no doubt that what one gives is appreciated and that one’s ideas are valued! —Margaret Therrien, Collections Volunteer
Woman wearing a blue sweater and glasses, standing outside and smiling.
"When I first started working I was the youngest volunteer and the first one to be in a wheelchair. I started out introducing the film, and the next year I assisted with the guided tours. In 2015 I started working at the Citizenship table, I love giving people the sample test and marking it but most of all I love getting people to raise their hand and take the oath of citizenship with me. It gives me experience interacting with tourists from all over Canada, the US and also other countries" —Noah MacNeil, Visitor Experience Volunteer
A young man in a wheelchair holds a certificate, smiling. Certificate text is not legible.

Time 0:02:04

Hi, I'm Bryn. I'm a two time alumnus of Pier 21.

I came over here when I was 11 months old. I was born in England and I came over when I was five, to immigrate for good. I was born of a British dad and a Nova Scotian mum. My mum wanted to show me off when I was 11 months old and I think she was a little bit homesick and she came home and brought me with her, back in 1956. When we returned, more of the family came along and then we all immigrated - mum, dad, me, my brother and my sister - in 1960.

So there's a real strong family presence that has gone through Pier 21. But there's more. My dad was one of the evacuee children that was sent over from England and arrived in 1940 to avoid the German bombing, and he stayed here for five years. He went back and...yeah the rest is history.

Also, during the war, Pier 21 was used to transfer...transport troops to the war effort and my grandfather - my mum's father - was one of those men. So there - as you can see - there's a real strong connection with my family and when I retired in 2019, I decided I wanted to do something with Pier 21, because of that strong family background and it's been a great experience and I'm looking forward to many more years of it.