Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Canada Today
The Society numbers about 800,000 members in some 140 countries worldwide, whose members operate through "conferences". A conference may be based out of a church, community center, school, hospital, etc., and is composed of Catholic volunteers who dedicate their time and resources to help those in need in their community. Non-Catholics may join with the understanding that the society is a Catholic organization.
Volunteers of St. Vincent de Paul in Canada seek people in need, wherever they live - in their homes, on the street, in shelters, in hospitals or in prison. The activity of the SVDP is always based on love of neighbour in the local community. Volunteers work in their own area and respond to local needs. This means that the Society's work around the world is extremely varied: health, agriculture, education, housing, employment support, help for elderly, disabled, isolated or excluded people, and more. Funded by donations, it also provides emergency assistance and rehabilitation for victims of natural or humanitarian disasters, and finances development projects.
In Canada the Society of St. Vincent de Paul carries out: home visits; friendly visits (sick, elderly, prisoners); food aid (food bank, soup kitchen); material help (clothes, accessories and furniture); educational support (school supplies, scholarships); help to refugees and immigrants; shelters (homeless, single mothers, abused persons); summer camps; twinning with conferences in Canada or from another country; national and international emergency relief (natural disasters and humanitarian catastrophes).
In 2016, Canada has 871 conferences across the country. The poor can count on the help of our 14,196 volunteer workers who, only last year, did 209,694 home visits, thus bringing assistance to 381,000 people in need.