In the first of two articles, I look at the demand for and supply of CVITP services to illustrate a growing problem with volunteer recruitment.  Looking at the recent past, I conclude there has likely been a large unmet demand for CVITP services.  However, the recruitment of volunteers, who are the linchpin in the provision of CVITP services, has been sluggish.  Looking ahead, I speculate that the demand for CVITP services is unlikely to decline and may even grow as automatic tax filing gets introduced for low-income individuals and households.

If I am correct, this implies that CVITP volunteer recruitment will need to be ramped up.  In the second article, I review recent trends in volunteering within Canada which suggest that it will be increasingly more difficult to recruit volunteers.  As volunteer recruitment is a responsibility shared between the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and host organizations, I look at how both are doing.  I conclude that the CRA has no plans to ramp up volunteer recruitment and that most host organizations are in the same position.

Thus, CVITP volunteer recruitment is the slow-moving crisis that could undermine the CRA’s ability to continue providing quality in-person services to low-income households in the coming years.