Despite having nearly 77% fully vaccinated population and 83% of people over the age of 5 with at least one dose, Canada surpassed 40,000 new COVID-19 infections in a single day as of December 31 2021 [1,2]. The continuation of a streak of rapid infection growth is taking place amid tighter public health restrictions by the federal government and provinces/territories..

The years of 2020 and 2021 were marked by closed borders and cancelled summer travel. Amongst the many trips that were cancelled were volunteer holidays, a common activity for eager post-secondary students applying to competitive graduate programs, especially pre-medical students. Voluntourism, the act of volunteering abroad whilst on vacation, had a growing market before the pandemic at an estimated global value of CAD $2.6 billion a year [1]…