VOLUNTEER
Looking to make an impact?
Looking to make an impact?
Are you searching for a chance to be an active part of a rich and rewarding ecovillage community lifestyle? Does the opportunity of spending quality time fully immersed in one of North America’s premier sustainable living demonstration sites sound appealing? How about living among like-minded folks from across the globe? If these prospects excite you, then chances are you’ll truly love the volunteering experience available at OUR Ecovillage.
Ready to explore?
Fill out our volunteer application form and tell us a little about yourself — what brings you here, what you’re curious about, and what you hope to take with you. We’ll be in touch.
Ready to Volunteer?
Fill out the volunteer form below and tell us a little about yourself — a brief personal bio, a portfolio if you have one, and most importantly, why you want to join us. We want to get to know you and your vision of what it means to be part of OUR Ecovillage.
From there, you will be in touch with a lovely villager who’ll correspond with you in creating your village experience. We are happy to answer any questions you may have, so please feel free to ask us anything.
A few things worth knowing: we have a standard trial period of up to 7 days for new volunteers, which gives both you and the village a chance to assess the fit before committing to a longer stay. Your volunteer coordinator will walk you through the details before and during that period.
The village reveals itself slowly. The people who get the most from their time here are the ones who arrive with enough room in their stay to let that happen — to move past the novelty, find their footing, and become genuinely useful to the community and to themselves. That’s what we’re really looking for: people ready to show up fully, for long enough to matter.
Can you sense the myriad possibilities?
Are you feeling the call to join the magic at OUR Ecovillage?
Ways to Participate:
OUR Ecovillage is a living community — and the richest way to experience it is to be part of it. We’re especially looking for folks who can stay long enough to get genuinely embedded in village life — including our onsite systems for waste, water, and energy management — where the real depth of the experience lives. That embedding process typically unfolds over 3 to 6 months. You will get to have a wide variety of experiences in many different realms of the below-listed activities….this is a great way to know more about choosing to step into a full learning program with us (permaculture design certificate, or workshops with teachers from far and wide).
As a Non-Profit organization, we often serve at related community events in the wider geographic area which gives you a chance to see the beauty of the Cowichan Valley (ocean, lakes, rivers, mountains and farm areas…with fun city life nearby) but also to meet the culture of kindness of the local First Nations Peoples of this area. We are focused on JEDDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Decolonizing, and Inclusion) as part of OUR effort supporting our Indigenous major-led board of directors.
Volunteering with us is not employment — it’s something closer to joining a living, thriving community and contributing your hands, heart, and spirit to it. Volunteers join in the daily rhythm of the village, often shadowing and supporting the experienced community members who lead projects, and move between different experiences….so you manage to have a wide range of experiences and meet lots of people in our wider community as well!
Below are the areas where volunteers most often find their place — and if something you’re drawn to isn’t listed, get in touch. We’re always open to a conversation.
Natural Building & Sustainable Design
OUR Ecovillage is a living example of what’s possible with natural materials. Our site includes cob, straw bale, timber frame, and earth-plastered structures built over decades of hands-on experimentation. If you’re drawn to the craft of building with natural materials — mixing cob, raising walls, shaping earthen plasters, or contributing to an active building project — this is a living, breathing place to get your hands in it. No experience required; curiosity and a willingness to get dirty are plenty.
Food Growing & Land Stewardship
From raised beds and greenhouses to food forests, orchards, and perennial systems, our 25-acre site is a layered, evolving experiment in growing food with the land rather than against it. Learning for volunteers allows you to join the daily rhythm of planting, tending, harvesting, and gleaning as you shadow OUR farm team — and get a front-row seat to how a working permaculture site actually functions across the seasons.
Ecological Cooking & Food Preservation
Our Zero Mile Meal Eatery is the heart of daily community life — a handcrafted cob and straw bale kitchen where food is prepared from what the land produces, seasoned with intention. Community participants in this area help bring meals to life for a diverse, ever-changing group of villagers, guests, and visitors. There’s also a strong emphasis on preservation: fermenting, canning, dehydrating, and storing what the harvest brings in.
Animal Care & Farm Ecology
Our animal community may include cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, dogs and cats — all part of the ecological design of the site. Participants who are drawn to animal care join in the daily routines of feeding, observing, and tending, and begin to understand how animals integrate into a whole-systems approach to land stewardship. Prior experience is welcome but not required.
Community Governance & Non-Profit Leadership
OUR Ecovillage is a registered non-profit cooperative that has been navigating the real-world complexity of shared governance for over two decades. For those interested in how intentional communities actually function — how decisions get made, how resources are managed, how values get translated into policy — there’s a lot to observe and engage with here. Participants with an interest in this area may support outreach, communications, day-to-day community operations, or simply sit in and observe community governance in action.
Technology & Communications
A community like ours runs on more than soil and cob — it also runs on systems, storytelling, and digital infrastructure. Participants with skills or curiosity in IT, web, social media, videography, photography, or digital communications are warmly welcomed. There is always something meaningful to contribute in helping OUR Ecovillage tell its story and maintain the tools that keep community life connected.
Sharing Knowledge & Community Exchange
One of the most alive parts of OUR Ecovillage is the constant flow of exchange — between long-term community members and newer participants, between the land and the people tending it, between visitors and the village. Throughout the year, we welcome school groups, community gatherings, and people curious about sustainable living from all walks of life. Participants who enjoy sharing what they know, guiding others through the site, or helping prepare for and host community events will find plenty of natural opportunities to do exactly that — as part of everyday village life rather than in any formal capacity.
Event & Community Organizing
From seasonal celebrations to community days and public open gatherings, village life at OUR Ecovillage includes a steady rhythm of events large and small. Participants interested in this area get involved in bringing these gatherings to life — and get a close-up look at how a community comes together to celebrate, share, and welcome others into its world.
Hospitality & Guest Experience
As a destination for curious travellers and people from around the world drawn to sustainable living, OUR Ecovillage is always welcoming new faces into its spaces. Participants in this area help create warm, informative, and memorable first impressions — through tours, welcoming and orienting visitors, and the everyday hospitality of shared meals and community life. If you love people and feel at home making others feel the same, this is a natural fit.
Living at OUR Ecovillage
As a volunteer, you will join us in day-to-day village life. Whether tending to the garden, contributing to onsite building projects, or cooking lunch, there are many ways to show up and be part of what makes this place run. Along the way, you’ll naturally develop the kind of relational and practical skills that community life calls forth — not through instruction, but through simply being here and doing it together.
Living in OUR community means building relationships: with the land, the people, and ourselves. This means participating in OUR daily check-ins, weekly community meetings, and much more. As part of village life, you will be invited to partake in and contribute your uniqueness to the medley that makes up OUR culture.
OUR Ecovillage is a busy, living demonstration site — throughout the year we welcome visitors, host community gatherings, and share our way of life with people from all walks of life who are curious about sustainable living. As a volunteer, you’ll be part of the village that makes all of that possible, and you’ll experience that richness from the inside.
While volunteering with OUR team, you will be able to camp onsite (weather permitting), potentially stay in OUR dorm space (availability permitting) or even bring your own trailer.
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Living at OUR Ecovillage
As a volunteer, you will join us in day-to-day village life. Whether tending to the garden, contributing to onsite building projects, or cooking lunch, there are many ways to show up and be part of what makes this place run. Along the way, you’ll naturally develop the kind of relational and practical skills that community life calls forth — not through instruction, but through simply being here and doing it together.
Living in OUR community means building relationships: with the land, the people, and ourselves. This means participating in OUR daily check-ins, weekly community meetings, and much more. As part of village life, you will be invited to partake in and contribute your uniqueness to the medley that makes up OUR culture.
OUR Ecovillage is a busy, living demonstration site — throughout the year we welcome visitors, host community gatherings, and share our way of life with people from all walks of life who are curious about sustainable living. As a volunteer, you’ll be part of the village that makes all of that possible, and you’ll experience that richness from the inside.
While volunteering with OUR team, you will be able to camp onsite (weather permitting), potentially stay in OUR dorm space (availability permitting) or even bring your own trailer.
