Skip to content We endeavour to inspire the rich to help the poor and guide the poor to realize their own riches.
Tzu Chi volunteers address the needy households they assist as ‘Households of Gratitude’. This is not about wanting the aid/care recipients to thank Tzu Chi for its help, but rather the volunteers are grateful to the needy for allowing them to witness poverty and illness in life. It helps to remind them that impermanence is a reality in life, and thus, they learn to be content and to count their blessings. In the process of giving, it is equally important to thank the aid/care recipient. Only then are we truly sincere in caring for the suffering people.”
Charity is the foundation of Tzu Chi’s Missions. In 1966 when Tzu Chi was created by Dharma Master Cheng Yen, Taiwan had been experiencing 20 years of post war cripling poverty that even years of US aid had failed to relinquish.
The Master personally led her monastic desciples and a group of housewives to walk into the dark corners of society to help the poor and relieve their suffering by providing them with empathic care and much needed aid. We continue to be the first to reach out to the needy and we are committed to helping them until they are independent or have passed on. Such a spirit of compassionate Great Love has become the hallmark of Tzu Chi’s Mission of Charity.
We will ignite a candle in the darkest corners of the world to show people the way toward the light. For those who are suffering, we will offer vital living materials to keep them from starving or freezing. Everything Tzu Chi volunteers do is to help the poor turn their lives around. We hope to recruit you to help make the path wider and smoother and to give more suffering people the opportunity to improve their lives.
World peace will eventually become possible as we inspire kindness in everyone’s hearts.
In the past, we only focused on inspiring the rich to help the poor, by calling on those who are financially able to help the impoverished. Now, we also work to guide the poor to do good, by sharing with them that in the process of receiving aid, they can also contribute their efforts to help others in need if they wish to. Thus, a continual cycle of kindness and charity is formed.”
We attach great importance to inspiring the goodness of human nature in people. We teach the rich to help the poor escape the pit of poverty so that the rich can enjoy gift of giving, learn to help the poor with love, and find meaning in life. Our goal is to provide short, medium, and long-term assistance to those in need, and help them become self-reliant.
The work of Tzu Chi’s Mission of Charity involves a rigorous process comprising an initial visit to assess the needs of the potential beneficiary, a follow-up meeting to discuss each new case, and monthly care visits to the homes of confirmed beneficiaries.
A volunteer team will re-assess the needs of each beneficiary once every three months to determine if there is a need to fill the gaps in the assistance provided or whether to terminate assistance when the beneficiary is found to receive adequate aid from other sources or becomes financially independent.
Besides making regular home visits, our volunteers also organize festive celebrations for beneficiaries and their families. By providing care from the heart, we hope to improve the quality of life of our aid/care recipients, and to help them get their lives back on track.
Our home visit volunteers are committed to Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s ideal of “equal compassion for all”. They prepare meals and distribute aid supplies to families/individuals in need, and help with cleaning up, repairing, and renovating homes. Touched by our volunteers’ loving and sincere efforts, the aid/care recipients gradually open up their hearts and build trusting relationships with them. Many of our beneficiaries have come to realise that true wealth comes from giving, and are happy to pay it forward and help others in need.
In this time plagued by frequent disasters, we are very blessed to live in a relatively peaceful nation. In the aftermath of a major disaster overseas, our volunteers take to the streets and join in the global Tzu Chi fundraising efforts. Our volunteers will also gather and pray for those affected, sending them well-wishes and blessings of love, with the hope that they will soon recover from the disaster and return to normalcy.
With your generous donation, Tzu Chi will be able to provide emergency relief when disaster strikes, we can also distribute food to ease hunger, provide medical care to those who cannot afford it, support students so they have hope for their future, and so much more.
Since 1994, Tzu Chi has collaborated with school boards, public schools, collages, and universities across Canada. We have contributed over $3 million to help provide scholarships, bursaries for extra-curricular activities, after-school programs, breakfast programs, school supplies, and library books. These programs have benefitted over 20,000 students.
In 2013, Tzu Chi established the “Blue Sky Project” to assist children in need to build healthier, well-rounded personalities. We believe in the philosophy that “every child deserves a chance.” At all times, therefore, Tzu Chi strives to provide underprivileged students opportunities that will help broaden their horizons and guild them toward their dreams.
In the spirit of the ancient Chinese motto: “Love Our Elderly as well as Others”, Tzu Chi Canada volunteers respect and care about the elderly in their communities. Starting in 1992 with nursing homes Little Mountain Place and Villa Cathay Care Home, in Vancouver, Tzu Chi volunteers cared for the needs of seniors with regular visits. We believe that “Smiles are friendship bridges that open the hearts of the elderly!” Tzu Chi volunteers continue to serve seniors in 36 nursing homes across the country, bringing cheer to the elderly as if they were their own.
For the past 22 years, Tzu Chi has contributed over $2 million to 55 distinct charitable projects to support low-income families, single mothers, living-alone seniors, abused women, the homeless, and patients in the addiction rehab centers in local communities. In order to assist the less fortunate, Tzu Chi volunteers dedicate themselves to helping 17 Food Banks, delivering Christmas hampers, cooking and serving meals for the homeless, and donating clothing and daily necessities to over 3,000 needy families. In addition, volunteers also assist mentally challenged and handicapped children in therapeutic horse-riding, and spend time with the cerebral palsy and the mentally challenged patients in Joy Care Center in Coquitlam, B.C..
Tzu Chi volunteers regularly serve at 17 food banks and temporary shelter locations, and distribute relief aid supplies to over 3,000 repients annually. Through years of continuous support, Tzu Chi volunteers formed good relationships with the recipients, regardless of their ethnic background, color, and/or religion. This enabled Tzu Chi volunteers to assist them with not only material aid but also emotional and spiritual comfort and support.
Tzu Chi joined the B.C. Emergency Social Service network to provide immediate support to disaster and accident victims. Tzu Chi volunteers have participated in the emergency relief efforts of 2,000 Rocky Mountain bus accidents, the 2003 B.C. forest fires, the 2004 Peterborough Flood, the 2007 Richmond airplane crash, the 2009 Chilliwack flood, the 2013 Calgary flood, the 2013 Toronto Ice Storm, the 2016 Fort McMurry Wildlife in Alberta, Canada’s record-breaking wildfires in 2023, and several B.C. apartment fires.
When natural disaster or accident happen, Tzu Chi volunteers provide immediate support to the victims by distributing food, daily necessities, and grocery store gift cards. They are also busy helping with clean up, and providing translation, consultation, and assistance in preparing various applications and documentations. And as important, Tzu Chi volunteers were there to comfort the victims and encourage them to overcome their misfortune.
Tzu Chi Canada has been devoted to global disaster relief since 1991. Whenever or wherever catastrophe strikes, Tzu Chi volunteers respond immediately with fundraising and carrying out relief work on site. Tzu Chi utilizes 100% of donations for relief efforts with 0% administration fees. Tzu Chi volunteers pay for their own expenses to join disaster relief teams. Tzu Chi Canada has donated over $20.5 million to carry out relief efforts for the 1999 Turkey Earthquake, the 1999 Taiwan Earthquake, the 2004 South Asia Tsunami, the 2005 U.S. Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 China Sichuan Earthquake, the 2009 Taiwan Typhoon Morakot, the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and the 2013 Philippines Typhoon Haiyan.
The chanting and farewell ceremonies offer comfort to survivors of disaster and a final farewell to the deceased. When people lose their loved ones, Tzu Chi volunteer’s care and support provide a strong shoulder for the family to lean on.
