Community Volunteer Income Tax Program

Ongoing successful program from 2003

If you’re unable to complete your income tax and benefit return by yourself and are unable to pay for assistance, our Community Volunteer Income Tax Program may be for you.

Our specially trained volunteers can help you complete your income tax and benefit return if your income is low and your tax situation is simple. This service is free!!!

The Community Centre “Russian House” offers free volunteer tax training sessions to community organizations and individuals. With the volunteer training session and reference material, you will be ready to help others in your community. Remember, our volunteers & employees are always available to help you if you have more questions.

As the gain in popularity (from the past participants’ referrals), more and more community members are in demand for these services. Also, an ever increasing number of volunteers are offering their assistance with the program.

Community Volunteer Network

Ongoing program

For a great number of newcomers the process of immigration and adjustment to the new system is a painstaking experience. People arriving in Canada face various problems, such as housing, work, study, documentation and many others, and are often unable to solve them without appropriate information and advise.

Our volunteer program is designed to help the newcomers to adjust to new Canadian life and allow people to receive their first Canadian experience. We offer immigration services in English as well as in Russian that facilitate a faster adaptation process and a greater understanding and community involvement. We provide the newcomers with required training and coordination and advise them on immigration-related issues by organizing information and orientation sessions. Moreover, our program offers the interpretation and translation services.

In addition, Community Volunteer Network takes an active part in the improvement and consolidation of the Russian-speaking community. We have designed, developed, and maintained community member and volunteer database that allows a number of people to get involved in their community, promote and share their own culture and heritage. Our volunteers actively participate in the organization’s committee work, research and fundraising activities.

 

Open Community Media Room

We believe that understanding of culture helps to understand a person and understanding of a person is a powerful tool of addressing and solving social problems.

The Open Community Media Room was started in 2004 and is running on volunteer base as social enterprise project.
Our Goal:
• To bring communities’ members together and to increase understanding of their rights and responsibilities towards Canadian society;
• To develop cultural and art abilities of community members and Canadian newcomers.
Our Objectives:
• To dedicate ourselves to the efficient information support of cultural and art activities of Canadian life;
• To assist in newcomers’ adaptation, by providing them basic information about all aspects of Canadian life and culture;
• To provide information services, i.e. video, audio, print materials for community’s needs;
• To assist Canadian communities in publishing information of their social and cultural programs and events;
• To help authors in realization of their creative initiatives.
Ongoing Sub-projects:
• Publication Category;
• Photo Category;
• Russian-Canadian Archives;
• IT Sub-projects;
• Children Art Contests;
• Newcomers Settlement Program.

We gather and analyze information on all aspects of Canadian everyday life, which could help newcomers, as well as residents, to get their point of view on issues they never dealt before.
We aim at helping new members of Canadian society in expanding their abilities and talents; meet their cultural needs, and access information and education essential for success in their new environment.
Our future objective is to maintain Media Room with services of restoration audio/video/photo materials and services for do-it-yourself saloon, where artists and authors could realize their creative potential.
The Open Community Media Room provides multi-lingual support of processed materials, documents all community events in the database.

Job search assistance

on demand

Russian House & JobStart Bridge Program – Job Search Workshop for New Immigrants

For helping immigrant professionals to find work in Canada

Educational Information Resource Centre for Non-for-Profit organizations

on demand

Currently, there is a need for development of the third sector within the Russian-speaking community of Toronto. The aim is to resolve social and community problems, by offering services in the areas of education and health and by realizing cultural and artistic projects.

Coming to Canada are many Russian-speaking artists and educators with excellent schooling and extensive work experience in their field of work. These individuals are valuable for the process of development of Russian-speaking community of Toronto and the integration of its members into the broader Canadian society. The development of the third sector will allow not only for the artists and educators to realize their professional goals, but also to enrich the Russian community and Canadian society.

“Integration into Canadian Non-Profit Sector” project, through training and consultation sessions, will allow the initiative groups of Russian-speaking community, working in the arts, education, cultural, and health sectors, to receive the required knowledge and experience for registration, management, and fundraising of non-profit organizations.

Russian-Canadian Heritage 

Ongoing Sub-projects:
• Russian Costumes;
• Photo history;
• Russian-Canadian arts, culture, and heritage Archives;
• Children Art Contests;
• Newcomers Settlement Story collection.