About Us - Timebanking Canada Inc.
Timebanking Canada is a non-profit Canadian Federal Corporation, set up with the purpose to build a network of community TimeBanks in and around Ottawa. The corporation is managed by a Steering Committee of volunteers.
The vision of Timebanking Canada is to build socially-connected and closely-tied communities. Our mission is to bring individuals and community organizations together sharing time, skills, and expertise and helping one another in a ‘pay it forward’ spirit. People across communities will build active social connections, creating a semblance of neighborhoods expanded beyond the next door.
N.B. Timebanking Canada (Inc) is not a Charity organization. Therefore, no tax receipt will be available for any donations received.
Timebanking Canada Inc
is an International Member of Timebanking UK.
Timebanking UK (https://timebanking.org) is a large network of 400+ timebanks across the United Kingdom.
Community TimeBanks
Timebanking Canada has launched multiple community Timebanks in Ottawa, each Timebank catering to a geographic or ethnic community. People from across Ottawa (18+) may join a community Timebank in their vicinity. Membership is free. Members will ‘give’ and ‘receive’ help from one another in a neighborly spirit. Like friends and neighbors, they can spend time together as well as share hobbies, skills, and knowledge.
In Timebanking, people exchange a service, using time as the ‘currency of exchange.’ That is, people earn ‘time credits’ when they ‘give’ help to a member and spend ‘time credits’ to ‘receive’ help from any member. A member may accumulate ‘time credits’ to use at a later time, or to donate to another member or to the ‘community pot.’ For details of the Timebanking operation, please refer to the Member Handbook.
Cores beliefs of Timebanking
- People are assets – The real wealth of any society is its people. We believe that every person is valuable and has something to offer others in the community.
- Giving back – Everyone has a natural instinct and desire to ‘give back’ and/or ‘pay forward.’ The Timebanking scheme is designed for people to ‘give’ as well as to ‘receive.’ Whereas volunteering is based on the instinct “someone needs me,” Timebanking works on the principle of “we need one another.”
- Social networks – Timebanking encourages people to make social connections. This builds mutual social and practical support networks, strengthening communities.
- Equality – Everyone’s time is valued equally – an hour for an hour.
Membership of a Community Timebank
All participants in a Timebank — individuals (18+) and organizations — must register as Members of one or the other community Timebank. Member coordinators get to know all new members and approve each member registration. When members opt to accept a service offer or respond to a request, a Member coordinator ensures appropriate pairing of members for each service exchange offered/requested. This is done to protect vulnerable members.
For details, please refer to our Member Handbook and Member Training slide sets – click the buttons below.
What it means to be a member
As a Timebank member, you are not a volunteer in the traditional sense. Members of a Timebank provide service to one another and earn Time Credits for the time shared. One of our core belief is “everyone can ‘give’ something to others.” Thus, everyone in the community has the opportunity to render a service and make a difference in the community. Everyone can ‘receive’ from the community as well as ‘give’ back to maintain a sense of respect and dignity. When an individual member is giving and receiving, the community is effectively giving twice.
The ‘time credits = hours’ earned for ‘giving’ and spent for ‘receiving’ a service creates a level playing field. When a service exchange is completed, the Time Credits earned or spent are recorded in the Timebank software.
Membership Types:
Timebank memberships may be Individual or Organization. All members have the same privileges in the Timebanking operation and subject to the same rules. They can communicate and make connections with other members and take part in ‘give’ and ‘take’ exchanges.
Individual members
People sign up as individual members and provide service to other individuals or to organizations. Individual Members sign up as a Basic Member, who can only meet other members in a public place. If a member wants to meet another member in someone’s home, both must be upgraded to Full Membership.
Organization member:
In addition to individual members, non-profit organizations, businesses, and community groups can join timebanks as organization members. This allows them to both offer and receive services within the timebank community