When the Federation of Women’s Institutes of Canada adds up the hours its members spend on volunteer activities in their rural communities, the numbers confirm what Statistics Canada already knows.
People who live in rural areas of Canada are more likely to devote time to volunteer work than their urban counterparts, said a government study of people’s habits in 2003.
The FWIC chalked up 5,200 hours of volunteer work by WI members for their organization from March 2005 to March 2006. An FWIC spokesperson said its members probably devote an equal amount of time to educational, cultural, community and religious activities.
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The Statistics Canada study found that the connection between education and volunteering was stronger in Canada’s rural areas.
Sixty-seven percent of rural residents with a college certificate or diploma reported that they belonged to an organization, compared to 55 percent living in urban areas.
Despite rural residents being less educated on average than urban residents, civic involvement wasn’t any less. Rural residents were more likely to have attended a public meeting in 2003 regardless of their level of education.
The study revealed that individuals with a university degree were more likely to be involved in civic matters if they lived in rural areas. While there are proportionally fewer university degree holders in rural Canada, they contribute more than would be expected from them.
It also appears that rural residents with less than a university degree are picking up the slack. Individuals who had a high school diploma or a college certificate were more likely to be involved in civic activities if they lived in rural areas.
