Volunteer in parks

Calgary Parks volunteer opportunities are grouped below. Choose the best match for your interests, then call 311 or email us to get involved.

Volunteer Opportunities

Parks Interpretive Experience and Inglewood Bird Sanctuary Hosts

• Individuals make commitments of 6 shifts per season to volunteer as park interpreters at either Ralph Klein Park, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Nose Hill Park or Carburn Park.
• Activities include greeting park visitors, providing information, presenting interpretive biofacts and simple interpretive activities to visitors, and promoting upcoming Parks programming.
• Parks Interpretive Experience positions are seasonal and run May - October.
• Sanctuary Host positions are year round and subject to availability.
• Individual sign up

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary Stewards

• Volunteers conduct ecological research to contribute accurate data to an international ornithological resource network. While undertaking data collection, Stewards also engage with visitors to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary to provide park users with opportunities to learn and develop bird sighting and identification skills
• Individual sign up - or call 311

Green Leaders

• Individuals assist us to identify park project in their community and organize community volunteers for projects.
• Projects may include; painting benches or picnic tables, invasive species pulls and park cleanups.
• Individual sign up - or call 311

Litter Cleanup

• Groups make short commitments to keep park spaces clean.
• Activities include the annual Pathway and River Clean-up and The Litter Cleanup (TLC) Kit.
• We are also designated as a Clean Shoreline Community. Our partnership with the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup helps us engage more local volunteers to minimize our impact on the environment and keep it healthy.
• Group sign up

P.U.P.P.Y.

• Individuals or groups make short commitments to promote responsible pet etiquette in off-leash dog parks.
• Acitivities include attending scheduled P.U.P.P.Y. events with Parks staff where volunteers may participate in park cleanup and distribute dog waste pick-up bags and other materials to park users.
• Group sign up | Individual sign up

Adopt-a-Rink

• Adopt-a-Rink is a winter volunteer program through which volunteers help flood and maintain existing community pleasure skating rinks throughout Calgary.

Group Volunteer Opportunities

• Help us to maintain and beautify parks and green spaces in Calgary through volunteerism.
• Looking for a volunteer project for your company or group? Not afraid to get dirty? Join the Parks Environmental Education team on a Green Initiative project! Opportunities include; tree wiring, invasive species pulls, painting projects, playground facelifts and more.
• Group sign up

Become a Parks Volunteer

Calgary parks provide us all with spaces to connect with nature, the community, and our history. We invite you to partner with us to take care of parks, green spaces, playgrounds, pathways, trees, natural areas, and off-leash areas; conduct ecological research; or provide park users with engaging interpretive experiences.

We encourage volunteers of all backgrounds, abilities and experience to contribute. A screening policy is in place for all potential volunteers. This may include police information checks. Once accepted, volunteers receive orientation, training, and other support.

A huge thank you to the thousands of Parks volunteers! Without you our parks would not be the wonderful, vibrant places they are​​​​​​​