The Community Data Program has acquired data from one question from one cycle of the General Social Survey as a test product.  The GSS was designed to report trends at the national and provincial level, however it is possible that data could be extracted for other levels of geography with sufficient sample sizes.  Data were acquired from Cycle 24 (2013) on Giving, Volunteering and Participating for the following question: "In the past 12 months, did you do unpaid volunteer work for any organization?".  

Established in 1985, Canada’s General Social Survey (GSS) program was designed as a series of independent, annual, cross-sectional surveys, each covering one topic in-depth. The overall objectives of the program were, and continue to be, to gather data on social trends in order to monitor changes in the living conditions and well being of Canadians, and to provide information on specific social policy issues.

GSS data has served as evidence behind key government programs to improve the well-being of Canadians, informed research about social life, and become a valuable training tool for quantitative methods in post-secondary institutions across the country. It is viewed as an important foundational social survey within Canada’s national statistical system for providing a comprehensive look at a variety of essential topics. Current GSS themes comprise caregiving, families, time use, social identity, volunteering and victimization.