‘A big disappointment’: Saskatchewan overnight camps call on province for reopen regulations

Summer camps should be bustling with kids in the middle of July, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, overnight camps are closed until further notice.

“A quiet summer is discouraging, for sure,” said Holly Epp, Saskatchewan Camps Association (SCA) executive director.

“It’s a hard feeling to walk through there and not have the kids laughing and running around.”

Child and youth day camps were given the green light to open June 22 under Phase 4.1 of the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan.

At that time, the province said overnight camps were not permitted and gave no timeline as to when they could open.

“That came as a big disappointment,” Epp said.

“Of our 45 member camps, there’s probably only two that are just day camps.”

According to Epp, a few of the SCA’s overnight camps converted to day programming, but because of geographical location, it wasn’t possible for most camps to switch over.

“Parents look at camp for child care in a lot of ways. To have to drive three hours each day to be dropping your kid off and picking them up is just not doable,” Epp said.

Smaller camps can run on $20,000 to $50,000 each season, according to Epp.

However, bigger camps’ budgets can skyrocket close to $1 million annually, she said.

“We’re looking at donors going down, fundraisers not being able to happen and camper registration being cancelled,” Epp said.

“(Camps) are going to need a lot to survive.”

The SCA submitted a reopen proposal to the province at the end of May.

According to Epp, it suggested similar guidelines to day camps that would create cohorts of campers, essentially becoming a closed community for a week.

In an email statement to Global News, the Saskatchewan government said the SCA’s plans “cannot be considered” at this time.

“The Saskatchewan Camps Association submitted a plan to re-open, but their risk mitigation plans and re-open plans cannot be considered until the Chief Medical Health Officer deems it safe for overnight camps to resume,” the statement read. “Similar to all other provinces, with the exception of New Brunswick, overnight camps are still prohibited in Saskatchewan at this time.”

The best-case scenario, Epp said, is being able to rent out camp facilities to school groups in the fall to generate income.

While the rest of the summer is essentially a write-off, Epp hopes to see regulations in place by the start of the new year.

“It takes a good six months. Some camps are planning as soon as they’ve taken a break after summer,” Epp said.

“We would love to know that we would have something in place by January, because camps can’t take another year of pouring their resources out.”

The SCA is encouraging parents to write letters to the provincial government explaining the value of camp and how much their children miss it.

“We need that support so we’re here next year and for many generations to come,” Epp said.

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