The health and safety of our campers, staff and volunteers are very important and for that reason all staff, volunteers and campers attending Kenesserie Camp in 2022 must be fully vaccinated. 

Last night at Kenesserie Camp’s Board of Directors meeting the decision was made that we will not run our traditional camp programs this summer. This was a difficult decision because more than anything we want to have your kids back at camp. I know this may not be what you want to hear. Please know that this decision was the most difficult decision I have been a part of in my thirty plus years of summer camp and was not one that I or the board members made without great thought and consideration. 
I know many of you may have felt a sense of excitement and anticipation after Premier Ford’s Sunday announcement that the Ontario government will allow camps to open this summer. Government approval to open is just one factor in our decision-making process. For us the question has never been simply are we allowed to open, it’s been can we open safely for our campers, our staff and our community. The health and safety of our campers and staff is the most important factor. The additional level of risk that we would be asking our summer staff to shoulder was another key factor in our discussion. While the announcement was made on Sunday, the detailed guidance for the safe operation of camps has yet to be released, and we do not know when that will happen. The announcement offered no clarity on the guidelines that camps will be required to follow in order to operate camp this summer. The amount of time to properly prepare for a safe camp experience was the final factor that we considered. Our conversation included our belief that kids need camp and our desire to see camp filled with happy campers again. We want camp to happen, but not at all costs and not with an unacceptable level of risk. We are heartbroken about this but we will start working now for a fantastic summer in 2022. 
All is not lost for this summer though, as we are working out the details of Family Camping at Kenesserie in July & August. This will involve cabin rentals with some camp activities for families to experience in their cohort. This will be dependent on the provincial reopening guidelines. Watch for more details in the coming weeks about Family Camping at Kenesserie, leadership training opportunities for our older campers and other ways we will be connecting with our Kenesserie family. 
I want to finish by saying THANK YOU. You, our camper families, have been nothing short of spectacular with your support and encouragement during these last 14 months. We would not be able to make it through this without you - you folks are awesome!


With gratitude and love,


Dan Richards
Executive Director

Overnight summer camps across Ontario are still waiting for the green light 🚦 from the provincial government to open for campers this summer. The Ontario Camps Association (OCA) held an Online Campfire on April 12th that featured Dr. Ronald Cohn, SickKids CEO, interviews with campers and a roundtable discussion with some Association volunteers that are spearheading the work of getting camps allowed to open safely. 

We need your help to remind our provincial government that families want and children need camps to open this summer. Go to www.planforcamp.ca to find out how you can help. There is a quick history of the hard work that the OCA has been doing to plan for the safe reopening of camps and some suggestions of what you can do to remind the MPPs that this is an important issue for many people. 

 Thank you for your help. 

Does today's announcement impact our plans for the summer?

Short answer
No.

Long Answer 
We were well aware that a 3rd wave of the pandemic was coming. All models pointed to this. The rapid rise of the Variants of Concern was also predicted by many health experts. The Ontario Camps Association (OCA), of which Kenesserie Camp is an accredited member,  had been communicating to it's membership that April was going to be a difficult month.

We are still planning for camp and hopeful that in 12 weeks we will be in the middle of our staff training camp getting excited to host campers for the first time in 2 years. We are currently reviewing every aspect of our camp programs, policies and procedures to ensure the safety of all campers and staff this summer and to reduce the risk of COVID-19 at camp as much as possible. 

Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns or want to talk about the upcoming summer. 519.674.2497 or info@kenesserie.com

Dan