About animal fostering
You provide love, care and a temporary home to foster animals, and we provide the food, supplies, and medical care they need. This is a flexible volunteer opportunity and foster placements can range from a few days to a few months.
Some important things you should know:
- Fosters, or lead fosters in a family, must be 19+ years of age and have housing where pets are permitted.
- BC SPCA foster animals can be fearful, have complex medical needs, or require specific behavioural support. Our training will prepare you and we’re here to support along the way!
- Fostering makes a direct impact on animals in need, can bring joy to volunteers, and strengthen family bonds. It’s also a great way to gain valuable skills for future careers in animal care.
Is fostering with the BC SPCA Right for You?
1. Watch the video
2. Take the quiz
This 10-question quiz is here to help you assess whether or not fostering with the BC SPCA is the right volunteer role for you.
START NOW
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3. Join our fostering team
The BC SPCA is always looking for dedicated people to help animals in need. There are a variety of programs for fostering animals across BC.
APPLY HERE
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Frequently asked questions for foster candidates
Becoming a foster at the BC SPCA
The process takes a few weeks and includes:
- Completing an online application (less than 5 minutes).
- A chat with our team to discuss your expectations and learn more about the role (about 30-45 minutes).
- Online training (approximately 1-2 hours of reading and videos).
Thanks in advance for being patient and dedicated to this process. It’s worth it!
All volunteers who join our team, including fosters, are screened and trained to help us maintain high standards of transparency and accountability. Completing training is considered an aspect of volunteering and this time is recorded as volunteer hours.
Many BC SPCA foster animals need special care. They might feel scared, have health problems, or need help with behaviour.
Even if you have cared for animals before, every foster animal is different. The questions we ask help us understand your experience and match you with an animal that needs you. Our training helps you provide the same level of care these animals would get from staff or volunteers in our animal centres or with experienced fosters.
Yes! You don’t need experience to foster for the BC SPCA. We’ll help match you with an animal that fits your lifestyle and give you the training and support you need. As you gain experience, you may be able to foster animals with special needs.
Fostering an animal is very different from typical pet companionship. If you’re looking for a pet, please visit our adoptions page.
The BC SPCA’s foster program supports all domestic animals of all ages, including dogs, cats, and small animals like rabbits, gerbils, birds, and rats.
The BC SPCA also fosters out horses and farm animals such as chickens and pigs through the Horse and Farm Animal Foster Program.
Foster volunteers always have a choice of what types of animals they want to foster and can change their foster preferences online at any time.
Ready to join our animal fostering team?
APPLY HERE
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