'Demand is high and labour is short': Summer camps face potential service cuts on Vancouver Island

For many children, a week away at Camp Pringle in Shawnigan Lake, B.C., has been a rite of passage.

But this year that won’t be possible as its 2023 summer camping program has been cancelled due to what its website is calling staffing challenges.

"Demand is high and labour is short," said Derek Gent, CEO of the YMCA-YWCA Vancouver Island Branch.

The YMCA-YWCA runs Camp Thunderbird in Sooke, B.C.

"We are really fighting to get enough staff to offer the full service this year," said Gent.

Currently, the organization is looking to hire seven camp councillors in order to run its full program.

"Because we only have a certain number of people, we’ve held back spaces. When we hire more people, we’ll be able to offer more spaces," said Gent.

With staff shortages being seen at several camps, sending your child to summer camp this year could be a challenge.

"We’re being optimistic that we are going to be able to find enough staff that will fill the roles," said Regan Pemberton, Saanich community services programmer.

Saanich runs 25 day camps per week out of its four recreation centres throughout the summer.

"That equates to thousands of children over the course of the summer, and probably around 500 to 800 families," said Pemberton.

The municipality still needs to fill 40 summer positions in order to provide those spaces.

Dr. Mark Colgate, professor at the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria says the convenience of working from home is now even creeping into the realm of summer jobs normally taken by students and young adults.

"So many more people now can work from home," he said.

"If you’re thinking of jobs like working at a summer camp where you have to be present, where you have to actually be in that location for a certain length of time, then maybe that’s not as appealing as it once was before," said Colgate.

Since 2018, the Canadian Cancer Society has been using Camp Pringle as a retreat to send children and families affected by childhood cancer.

Fortunately, that will continue this year.

"We’ll still be at the wonderful and beautiful site that they have, we’ll just be doing all the pieces from the backend ourselves," said Danielle McVicar, senior manager of child and youth family programming with the Canadian Cancer Society.

The Cancer Society will staff the camp itself, keeping summer fun going for some. But hundreds of other children and their families are now likely scrambling for what appears to be a shrinking number of summer camp spots.