My TCHF
Questions, answered
Answers about cost, privacy, police checks, young volunteers and donating. Still wondering about something? Email info@tchf.ca.
About My TCHF
Does My TCHF cost anything?
No. My TCHF is free for everyone who gets help and everyone who volunteers. It is run by Trillium Community Help Foundation (TCHF), a registered Canadian charity, and donations are always optional.
Adult volunteers for Shovel For Seniors and Lawn Care for Seniors need a Vulnerable Sector Check. Some police services charge for it. Volunteers pay any fee, and TCHF does not generally pay it back. Some police services lower or waive the fee when you show TCHF’s Volunteer Confirmation Letter.
Who can join?
Anyone can create a TCHF User account. Get Help is focused on seniors 65 and over, and anyone in need may apply. TCHF approves each home, in any Canadian city.
Volunteers can be adults or high-school students. Donate Blood with TCHF is open to members anywhere in Canada.
Do I need to download an app?
No. My TCHF works in the browser on your phone, tablet or computer. On a phone you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.
The My TCHF app for Android is on Google Play, and an iPhone app is coming. The app uses the same account as the website.
Privacy and security
How do you keep my information safe?
Our database, sign-in system and private document storage are in Canada, with Supabase in its Canada Central region. Everything sent between your device and My TCHF is encrypted in transit.
Staff see only what their role needs, and city coordinators see only their own cities. Controls in the database itself make sure each person sees only what they are allowed to see. An audit log records who changed what, and when, and we log who views location history.
If you choose a password, it is stored in a scrambled (hashed) form that no one at TCHF can read. We follow Canada’s private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA.
Do you sell or share my information?
We never sell or rent your information, we do not show ads, and we do not share it for advertising.
We share it with the service providers that run parts of My TCHF for us, and they may use it only to provide their service to TCHF: Supabase (our database, sign-in and private document storage), Vercel (hosting), Cloudflare R2 (private storage for photos, support attachments and archived records), Stripe (ID checks and donations), Google (optional Google sign-in, and Gmail, which sends our emails), Expo, Google Firebase and Apple (phone notifications), and OpenStreetMap-based services (address lookup). We also share it when the law requires it, or to protect someone’s life, health or safety in an emergency.
Google Analytics counts visits to the website only if you click Accept on the cookie notice. The phone app does not use it.
Some of these providers may process or store information outside Canada, for example in the United States. When that happens, it may be available to that country’s courts, police and government under its laws.
Who can see my information?
A household sees its volunteer’s public name, expected arrival time and messages about the visit. It never sees the volunteer’s legal name, phone, address or location.
Until a volunteer accepts a job, they see only an approximate area for the home. After that, they see what they need to do the job: the address, access notes, what needs clearing and the request photos.
Job photos can be seen only by the people who manage the home, the volunteer and TCHF staff. Your legal name, and whether the town on your ID matches where you live, can be seen only by you and TCHF Admin and Operations staff. Only TCHF Admin and Operations staff can open police record checks.
Why do I need to verify my ID?
We ask everyone to verify their ID before they add a home, ask for help, join Donate Blood, sign up for a volunteer shift or start any other service. It helps keep residents and volunteers safe. Just browsing does not need it.
Stripe Identity checks your government ID and a selfie on Stripe’s own secure page. TCHF never receives or keeps images of your ID or your selfie.
Stripe tells us only the result, your verified name, your date of birth, a reference number for the check, and whether the town on your ID matches the town you live in now. We never keep the town or address from your ID.
We ask you to check your ID again every 2 years. Volunteers under 18 don’t verify; their parent or guardian does.
Why do adult volunteers need a police check?
Volunteers visit the homes of seniors and neighbours who need a hand. Checking each adult volunteer’s police record check helps keep those residents safe.
TCHF gives you a confirmation letter to take to the police service where you live. We never send your information to the police.
You upload the document the police give you. Only TCHF Admin and Operations staff can open and review it. An approved check is valid for 3 years, and we remind you 30, 14 and 3 days before it ends, and on the day.
Why do you need my location?
You don’t need to share your location to sign up, book shifts or volunteer online. We record it only during an in-person volunteer shift, and only if you allow it. We never record it outside a shift or while a shift is paused.
It helps keep volunteers safe, confirms that a visit really happened, helps us look into complaints or incidents, and lets us send the nearest volunteer when help is needed. When you mark Arrived and Done at a home, My TCHF checks that you are at the address.
Households never see where a volunteer is, only an expected arrival time. TCHF staff can see a volunteer’s current position only while their shift is active.
The in-between points recorded during a shift are deleted after 90 days. Check-in locations are kept with the service record for 7 years. You can turn location off at any time in your phone or browser settings.
What about volunteers under 18?
Volunteers under 18 need the consent of a verified parent or legal guardian. They don’t do an ID check or a police record check; their guardian’s consent and co-signature on the volunteer agreement take their place. The guardian’s consent includes location recording during shifts.
A young volunteer’s information can be seen only by their guardians and TCHF staff. The only exception: a home they help at sees their public name, expected arrival time and messages about the visit.
Volunteers aged 14 to 17 take outdoor home jobs on their own, in daylight only, and never go inside a home. Their guardian gets copies of their job messages and can pause them at any time.
How long do you keep my information?
Only as long as we need it, or as long as the law requires. Then we delete it or make it anonymous.
Job and request photos are deleted after 30 months. The in-between location points from a shift are deleted after 90 days, and in-app messages you have read after 90 days.
Safety records, such as ID check results, police record checks, signed agreements and guardian consent, are kept for 7 years after your last activity with TCHF. Check-in locations stay with the service record for 7 years.
Donation records and receipts are kept for at least 2 years after the end of the calendar year they relate to, as the Canada Revenue Agency requires, and by default for 7 years. Our security log stays in the database for 12 months, then moves to a private, compressed archive.
How do I delete my account?
Go to Profile, find Delete my account and choose Ask to delete my account. You can also write to our privacy officer at info@tchf.ca. An Admin checks the request, and we respond within 30 days, as PIPEDA requires. You may first need to finish or cancel any booked shifts, jobs or open requests.
We remove your name, email, phone number, date of birth and address, and you can no longer sign in. Some records must be kept for a time by law, such as signed agreements, ID and police check results, donation receipts and hours worked. We keep them without your name, under an internal ID number. Deleting an account cannot be undone.
Getting help
How do I get help at home?
Create an account, choose Get Help and add the home. Once TCHF approves it, you can request help whenever you need it and follow the visit in the app.
Programs are open across Canada. If no volunteers live near your home yet, the app tells you, and we look for volunteers in your area.
Who provides the shovel or lawnmower?
The household does. Volunteers bring their time and use the household’s own equipment: a shovel (and salt, if you have some) for Shovel For Seniors, and a working lawnmower (and a trimmer, if you have one) for Lawn Care for Seniors.
Please leave it where the volunteer can find it, for example by the front door or in an unlocked garage, and mention where in the note on your request. You confirm this each time you ask for help.
Can I ask for help for my mom or dad?
Yes. Add their home as Family & friends and you can request help, follow each visit and see the photos on their behalf. Other family members can join the same home.
Volunteering
How does volunteer verification work?
Adults (18 and over) verify their own ID. Stripe Identity checks a photo of your government ID and a selfie, then tells us the result and your verified name. We never store the ID images.
Volunteers under 18 don’t do an ID check. Their parent or guardian verifies their own ID and gives consent, and that covers the young volunteer.
Adults who volunteer with Shovel For Seniors or Lawn Care for Seniors also need a police check (see the next question). Then you e-sign the volunteer agreement and a coordinator activates you.
Do I need a police check to volunteer?
Adults (18 and over) who volunteer with Shovel For Seniors or Lawn Care for Seniors need a Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) from the police service where they live. These roles mean regular visits to seniors’ homes, so we check first.
Promote TCHF and Donate Blood with TCHF don’t need a police check. Volunteers under 18 don’t need one either.
To get one, download your TCHF Volunteer Confirmation Letter in My TCHF, apply with your police service, then upload the result. TCHF Admin or Operations staff review it, usually within 2 days.
You pay any fee your police service charges, and TCHF does not generally pay it back. If the cost is a barrier, message TCHF in My TCHF to ask for help. We look at each request, but we can’t promise to cover it. If your police service needs another document from TCHF to lower or waive the fee, message us too.
Completing a check doesn’t guarantee a volunteer place. TCHF reviews each result against the role. The full police check policy is in My TCHF.
Young volunteers
Can I volunteer if I am under 18?
Yes. You need a parent or guardian in My TCHF. They verify their own ID, e-sign consent and co-sign your volunteer agreement. You don’t need an ID check or a police check yourself.
You use your own login. Your parent or guardian can see your shifts and hours, and can pause your volunteering at any time.
You can take outdoor home jobs on your own, in daylight only, and you never go inside a home. Your parent or guardian gets copies of your job messages.
Do volunteers under 18 verify their own ID?
No. A parent or legal guardian links to the young volunteer’s account, verifies their own ID with Stripe Identity and gives consent. That covers the young volunteer.
Volunteers under 18 don’t need a police check. Police services generally don’t give record checks to under-18s for a charity program like ours.
Who is a young volunteer’s parent or guardian in My TCHF, and can there be more than one?
It is a parent or legal guardian. More than one can be linked, for example both parents. The verified ID and consent of either one counts.
Each parent or guardian can see the young volunteer’s shifts and hours, and can pause their volunteering at any time. The young volunteer sees their parent or guardian’s name and status on their Home page.
To add one, the young volunteer invites them from the “Parent or guardian” page in My TCHF with their name and email, and they get an invite link. Or a parent or guardian can add the young volunteer from their own account: Profile, then Guardian, then Add a minor.
Donating
How do I donate?
Choose Donate at the top of any page, or inside the app when you are signed in. Pick an amount, then enter your email, legal name, home address and card on Stripe’s secure payment form. Your tax receipt is emailed to you.
You can also donate blood: join Donate Blood with TCHF so your donations count toward our team.