Some camps reduced the numbers themselves. The lack of sufficient certified personnel such as lifeguards and health workers reduced the number of places available for some overnight camps. “We’ve only been able to open as many camp spots as we have available staff. So we had to find staff first and then make sure we could accommodate the kids over the summer,” said Chris Buffington, executive director of Camp Arnes, Interlake of Manitoba. Buffington, who says campers are now on a waiting list, said the number of campers before the pandemic was four times higher than it is now. The camp is still seeking workers for nine job categories, including lifeguards, nurses and cabin leaders, according to its website. At least three camps said they faced challenges securing the lifeguards and health officers needed to invite more campers. “Normally, I have three lifeguards at my beach. Now that they have one, we have a lot of split swims, you know, where we just have 20 kids at a time and not a big group,” said Don Roe, director of The Gimli Bible Camp, which also located in Interlake. Don Roe, director of Gimli Bible Camp, said it takes several years to build the staff for a camp. He said the pandemic had dealt a serious blow to the camp’s staff that would take years to repair. (Submitted by Don Roe) Roe said it takes several years to build the staff for a camp, and the pandemic dealt a serious blow to that staff that will take years to fix. Roe said his camp is probably at 40 percent capacity and they have enough cabin leaders to operate, but those staff members all give 100 percent all the time. “If this happens all summer, they’re probably going to get tired. But again, the kids are going to have fun — the big thing is, how much attention can we give them? How much relationship building can we do? ” Roe said.
Other travel plans also affect enrollment
Reduced capacity due to staffing is just one of the reasons fewer children in Manitoba are at camp this year. In some cases there is space for campers, but the directors are not sure why the children have not shown up. The Manitoba Pioneer Camp, held near Kenora, Ont., is about half full, although it was expected to be closer to 65 or 70 percent, said Neil Steward, the camp’s executive director. “June is usually a big month where we see a lot of campers sign up and we haven’t really seen that,” he said. Steward said that based on conversations he had with parents, there were two main reasons for the declining enrollment. The first was the concern about COVID-19. “Some of them are like, you know, we’d rather wait a little longer before we put our kids with a bunch of people,” Steward said. Steward also said many other children are traveling to visit other family members they haven’t seen in a while. Several principals said the uncertainty early in the year about whether summer camps would be available or what conditions would be like caused them to open registration later than usual and could affect who enrolls. Camp Massad turned away 16 campers, at a cost of about $40,000 to $45,000 in revenue, because they had not been vaccinated, said Daniel Sprintz, executive director of the camp, just north of Winnipeg Beach. Sprintz said that by the time the province lifted those pandemic restrictions, it had already turned campers away and parents who had already registered their children were waiting for a camp where everyone would be vaccinated. WATCHES | Enrollment is up, but many camp programs don’t have enough people applying for jobs:
Summer camps struggle with staff shortages
With the easing of pandemic restrictions, summer camp enrollment is increasing, but many programs don’t have enough people to apply for spots, forcing some camps to close for the season. Evan Andrew, director of brand revenue at Sport Manitoba, said the three-week summer camp, now in its fourth year, is now running at 80 per cent capacity. In previous years it would have been packed, he said. Andrew said the camp did not raise its fee, but was forced to remove an early bird special because of increased costs. “We didn’t want to try to pass it on to the families, but at the same time, obviously [we’re] trying to break even, or as close to it as possible, as a nonprofit,” he said.
It’s not about money for everyone
Kim Scherger, executive director of the Manitoba Camping Association, said the drop in camping registrations this year is reflected in fewer applications for camping grants, even though help is ready and waiting.
Children who need money for camping can access it through the Sunshine Fund, which is administered by the Manitoba Camping Association. Scherger said demand this year is much lower than they’ve seen in the past.
Kim Scherger, head of the Manitoba Camping Association, said camp registrations were great in March and April, but then took off. That’s a good thing, he says, because many camps wouldn’t be able to find enough staff to run a full camp. (Submitted by Kim Scherger)
“In 2019 we sent 641 kids to camp for a week of summer camp and that cost us about $225,000,” Serger said.
It covered the cost of sending just over 100 kids in 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic limited camp options.
Although the Sunshine Fund expected a wave of applications this year, this has not materialized.
“At the end of June, we were just hovering around the 300 mark for how many kids we were sending to camp through the Sunshine Fund. And that was about $130,000 that we were spending through the fund,” Scherger said.
“So I guess part of my message here as well is that we still have funding for this year.”
Scherger said funding is still available for accredited campgrounds listed on the Manitoba Camping Association website.
“We would really like to encourage parents to apply to us to access this funding,” he said.
The pandemic has dealt a serious blow to Manitoba summer camps
After two years of pandemic restrictions, camp directors across Manitoba expected a tsunami of campers to sign up for a staple summer activity — overnight camp — but enrollment is lower than expected, with some camps operating at half capacity.
