Origins
Following a recommendation by the Conseil Régional de Concertation et de Développement de la région de Québec (CRCDQ) to create a volunteer experience recognition program in Quebec, the Centre d’action bénévole de Québec (CABQ) started developing le Programme de reconnaissance des expériences bénévoles (PREB) in 2002. Through PREB, volunteer experience and skills gained during volunteer positions are recognized as work experience by professional organizations and companies.
PREB goes national
Thanks to a three-year partnership between CABQ and Volunteer Canada, PREB was re-branded and launched nationally in 2013. PREB is currently available in Quebec thanks to support from the Secrétariat à l’action communautaire autonome et aux initiatives sociales (SACAIS), and throughout Canada thanks to support from Investors Group. To this day, the Pan-Canadian collaboration between CABQ and Volunteer Canada still continues to support the development of PREB.
PREB-Ontario system launches in 2015
Launched during National Volunteer Week in April 2015, PREB-Ontario is our province’s adaptation of the national PREB initiative with additional enhancements that are unique to Ontario. It is a legacy project of the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games being held in the summer in Toronto. The PREB-Ontario system is a set of online tools that voluntary organizations use to recognize volunteers for the skills they use. The purpose of the system is to create PREB certificates volunteers can show to potential employers and education officials. Volunteer centres across the province are using the PREB-Ontario system so that voluntary organizations and volunteers in their communities can enhance their recognition of volunteers. In Ontario, the development and implementation of this new volunteer recognition system is coordinated by the Ontario Volunteer Centre Network (OVCN) which works on provincial initiatives on behalf of its member centres.
PREB-Ontario becomes Achieve Ontario in 2017