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While our new website is under construction, welcome to our temporary website.
The Roulant is many things, including a community of thousands of passionate volunteers that make social change possible. It’s folks like you that nourish us and contribute to an amazing intergenerational community. Above all, we’re a place of learning and interacting, which means that all levels of experience and knowledge are welcome.
In many ways, the work that the Roulant does is about the connections that are made between volunteers, clients, and staff. Come get involved and experience this sense of community first hand!
Become a Volunteer
Become a Volunteer
People volunteer at the Roulant to give back to their community, to fill compensatory hours, as a part of school hours, as part of a social reintegration program, and more. If you're keen to start volunteering, the next steps are to complete the volunteer form and register for a welcome session. Welcome sessions last a little over an hour and are a prerequisite to volunteering with the Roulant. They’re the perfect opportunity to learn about the various opportunities at the Roulant, to get a tour of our bustling building, and to meet the staff and other new volunteers. In true Roulant style, coffee, tea, and snacks will be served!
If you are already a volunteer and want to schedule a shift, please call us at 514-284-9335 or sign up in person at 111 Roy Street East!
For people with a criminal record, we invite you to read our Criminal Record Screening to find out in what capacity you can be implicated in the Roulant’s programs.
Group volunteering
Group volunteering
Are you a representative of a club or an organisation looking to get involved for a one-time experience or on an ongoing basis with your group? Are you a high school teacher or university professor looking for ways to connect your students with their community?
Make sure to have read this page to get an idea of whether the Roulant’s programs make sense for you and your group. If you think that it could be a good fit, then fill out this form and we’ll be in touch shortly to discuss your group’s involvement.
Corporate volunteering
Corporate volunteering
We offer corporate volunteering opportunities for businesses looking to team-build and give back to the community. If you'd like to know more, you can download the corporate volunteering and fundraising kit here,or contact us directly.
Meals-on-Wheels
Meals-on-Wheels
Our Meals-on-Wheels service cooks and delivers over 100 healthy and nutritious meals five days per week, 52 weeks per year for people living with a loss of autonomy and a risk of social isolation. These meals are delivered in eight neighbourhoods that surround the mountain in Montréal. There are many ways that you can contribute to this collective effort!
Meet beautiful souls during delivery
Meet beautiful souls during delivery
Meal deliveries go above and beyond being an essential food service. They also allow for moments of connection between clients and volunteers. Whether it’s a warm smile or a longer chat at the doorstep, these meal deliveries help to build bridges between generations.
There are delivery shifts on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons.
Deliveries can be done by bike, by bus, by car, or on foot. Volunteers venture out either alone or in pairs, and each route takes from one to three hours. A staff member can always be reached by phone to support any questions that might come up while volunteers are out doing deliveries. When all the meals have been delivered, the volunteers head back to the Roulant to return their delivery bag and report back on how the route went.
Delivery volunteers must be 16 years of age or older to volunteer alone, or any age if accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older.
We offer compensation for volunteers who use their own car or bicycle, or who take public transport for deliveries. Find out more here!
Feed community in the kitchen
Feed community in the kitchen
The community kitchen is a great place to meet other volunteers while helping to prepare meals for vulnerable Montrealers. It’s a lively environment full of music and interesting people. A member of our kitchen team is always present onsite to guide volunteers through their tasks.
Volunteer shifts in the kitchen take place both morning and afternoon on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
The morning shifts are from 9:30 to 12:30 and involve prep for the meal that will be delivered around town later that same day. The afternoon shift runs from 13:30 to 16:30 and is dedicated to packing up the meals to be sent out that same afternoon.
For food hygiene and safety, it’s important that everyone working in the kitchen wears a hat or hairnet, closed toed shoes, and no nail polish or hand jewellery.
To volunteer alone in the kitchen you must be 16 years old or older, or 14 years or older and accompanied by an adult.
Agriculture
Agriculture
The Roulant has four agricultural sites that are active from mid-April to mid-October; the green roof and street terrace at 111 rue Roy E, the garden at La Cité-des-Hospitalières, and the peri-urban farm in Senneville. These agricultural sites host school groups and partner organizations, and serve as community gathering places, educational sites, and healing gardens for partner organizations. They also support the work of our collectives!
Produce grown in the gardens and at the farm are sold at our weekly Friday Hang / Kiosque Alimentaire from June to October, are incorporated into the meals of Meals-on-Wheels clients, and are shared with local food banks and food security organizations.
Urban agriculture
Urban agriculture
Depending on the location, the weather, and the time of year, tasks can vary from watering, to adding compost, to pruning vines, to cutting clover, to removing stones from fields, to preparing planting beds, and more. Gardening shifts take place come rain or shine (with the exception of major storms), so volunteers are expected to dress accordingly. Plan to get dirty: that’s part of the fun of digging around in the soil!
Please note that the urban gardens and volunteering opportunities are currently closed for the season and will return in May 2027.
Volunteers in our agriculture spaces must be 16 years of age or older.
Farm
Farm
Santropol Roulant's peri-urban farm is located in the West Island, at 269 Chemin Senneville. In 2026, the Roulant farm completed construction on new agroeducational infrastructure that makes the farm more accessible than ever. Volunteer shifts at the Roulant farm take place twice weekly during the growing season, in addition to a monthly community farm day, where volunteers undergo a larger task (such as garlic planting) and enjoy a potluck lunch together.
Please note that the Roulant farm and volunteering opportunities are currently closed for the season and will return in May 2027.
Collectives
Collectives
While the agricultural and Meals-on-Wheels programs are led by the Roulant’s staff and powered by volunteers, the five collectives that fall under the umbrella of the Roulant are led by volunteers and supported by staff.
Each collective is run by a separate group of volunteers and has different expectations of members depending on project needs, membership, and season. See below to find out more information about our collectives and how to become a volunteer:
Apiculture
Working towards sustainability for beekeeping in Montreal by maintaining colonies of bees, and creating a buzz in our local community around the role of local pollinators.
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Mycollective
Spreading spores of knowledge to those fascinated by the microscopic world of mushrooms and their place in Montreal’s urban agriculture community.
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Santrovelo
Developing our cyclists’ mechanical know-how, with the help of volunteer mechanics and our open-door bike workshop.
Vermicompost
Tending to the Roulant’s worm friends and increasing their capacity to compost the organic waste produced in house.
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Les Fruits Deféndus
Les Fruits Deféndus
Les Fruits Defendus is Montreal’s volunteer-led urban fruit harvesting collective hosted by Santropol Roulant. The initiative connects local fruit tree owners with volunteer harvesters and helps ensure that this valuable local food resource does not go to waste. After the fruit is harvested, it is divided in three between the tree owner, volunteers, and a beneficiary organization.
In 2025, Les Fruits Défendus officially transitioned from a volunteer collective hosted by the Roulant since 2011 to an independent organization supported by the Roulant.
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