Summer camps left in the lurch

Province offers no guidance on opening, leaving programs in lurch

LONDON, ONT.— There might not be any campers singing “Kumbaya” around the fire this summer.

As the clock ticks down on their already-short season, summer camps are wondering how they might adapt their programs or survive a potentially cancelled year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The summer camp experience will be delayed this year, no doubt,” said Howie Grossing, a spokesperson for the Ontario Camps Association (OCA), an industry umbrella group. “Whether it can actually be delivered, that’s another story.”

With no information yet provided by the province on if summer camps could operate, it’s become a challenge for owners to prepare and anticipate what modifications they might have to make to their programming.

“Generally speaking, social and physical distancing and the camp experience are not compatible,” Grossing said.

Cabins with kids in bunk beds, packed dining halls and interactive games make the idea of seeing summer camps shift to socially distanced models hard to imagine.

The OCA has released a checklist that includes guidance on how camps could accommodate health and safety practices, such as distancing and introducing personal protective equipment.

“I would think some of the current policies around physical distancing would have to change pretty dramatically,” said Tyler Shaule, executive director of Forest Cliff Camp.

Forest Cliff sees more than 4,200 campers each summer.

He said many camps, his included, are trying to be patient waiting for information from the province. A good indicator of the fate of camps would be a final decision on the remainder of the school year in Ontario.

The OCA estimates its 450 member camps — many of which are non-profits — bring $620 million in economic activity to the province each summer. A delay or potential cancellation would devastate the bottom line of camps, which make the majority of their revenue in a few summer months.

Cancelling camps also would cause child-care headaches for parents who might start returning to work in the coming weeks and trigger job losses for thousands of seasonal staff, many of whom are post-secondary students, who work at camps each summer.