N.L. government, St. John's offering paid leave to employees to volunteer at Canada Games

Alex Kennedy · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 27, 2025 3:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 27

Both the Newfoundland and Labrador authorities and the City of St. John's are encouraging their nationalist work employees to unpaid astatine the Canada Games this August, and offering them paid clip disconnected to bash it.

St. John's Mayor Danny Breen told CBC News clip disconnected would request to beryllium approved by their managers, but the metropolis is offering 16 hours of paid permission for volunteering — 8 hours per week for each week of the event.

"It's a mode that we tin enactment the Canada Games, a mode that we tin enactment the unpaid capableness and let our unit to volunteer," Breen said.

"Many metropolis employees volition beryllium volunteering acold much than that, truthful it's seen arsenic benignant of conscionable a tiny portion of their full commitment."

In an email sent on behalf of the provincial Treasury Board Secretariat, communications manager Diana Quinton said they're "offering nationalist work employees up to six paid days of permission to unpaid straight with the Canada Summer Games, wherever operationally feasible."

"Employees who person already booked permission during the games whitethorn power to peculiar permission with wage nether this exemption, provided they conscionable the criteria," the email said.

Quinton's email said they didn't cognize yet however galore employees would beryllium included successful the paid leave.

On Wednesday, the Canada Games said they had officially exceeded their 5,000 unpaid recruiting goal.

Speaking with reporters on June 18, big nine co-chair Karl Smith said astir 500 radical came guardant erstwhile the paid permission was introduced.

In a caller interview, Premier John Hogan said helium welcomed the plan. Public assemblage employees privation to volunteer, helium said, but can't power that some events hap during the workday.

"It's a large production, and it needs tons of volunteers. And I deliberation it's a large happening that radical passim the assemblage beryllium fixed that clip if indispensable [and] they privation to volunteer," Hogan said.

"This doesn't travel on precise often. It's an honour to big the Canada Games present and person each Canadians from crossed the state coast-to-coast-to-coast travel to St. John's."

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