Frequently Asked Questions

We try very hard to accommodate special needs children where we can. There is no strict policy regarding special needs children as several factors depend on our ability to provide an environment suitable to them. Suitability and capabilities vary from site to site. Therefore, if you have a special needs child and they wish to come to Camp STEAM, please contact us and we will review each case independently. Unfortunately we are not able to offer 1:1 care for special needs campers.

Unfortunately, we do not offer half day enrollment or part time enrollment. While it is your choice to only send your child for half a day or a few times a week, there is no price discount. The full enrollment fee will apply.

During a camp week, we hold on to left items for campers to pick up the next day. All unclaimed items are donated to a local charity at the end of every camp week. Please label everything to assist counsellors in returning items to your child. Please also check your child’s belongings at the end of each camp day and notify the counsellors at your camp during drop off the next day, if any item is missing.  

Typically we have 1 counsellor for every 7 children, though some variations apply. If volunteer CIT’s (Counsellors-In-Training) apply they are most welcome as well. Each camp location has a Camp Coordinator, a Program Coordinator and regular counsellors.

The majority of our counsellors are university and college students looking for summer employment (and a few secondary school students are hired each year, as well). We also employ teachers who want to do something in the summer, and graduates of Teacher Colleges across Ontario. A recent Vulnerable Sector Police Check is a mandatory requirement for all counsellors. There will be at least one counsellor present at each camp location with their First Aid certification at all times.

You can see all our locations for summer camp 2023 here.

Not all of the facilities we use are air conditioned. To know if your location has air conditioning, visit that page on our website (see all our locations here), scroll to the bottom, and in the location-specific FAQs we will post that information. The activities your children are involved in are of an academic nature and not strenuous. We will conduct activities under shade trees or in front of fans if it is hot but will not be refunding due to the weather being hot in the summer.

During the registration process, you have the option of adding camp gear to your order. If you purchased camp gear, it will be delivered to your camper on the first day of their first camp week.

Yes! We make sure that there are a lot of activities and options to ensure the campers are always busy learning and having fun! Many of our activities have extensions available if a camper needs a bit more of a challenge as well.

Yes! We recognize guardian work days sometimes extend beyond our 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. camp day, and so we offer extended care. Early drop off starts at 8:00 a.m. and late pick up is offered until 5:00 p.m.

You can add this extended before care and/or extended after care to your cart at checkout when you register for camp, or purchase it later if you prefer.  Before care for the whole week is $30, and after care for the whole week is $30 ($24 each for 4 day weeks). Please note, only whole weeks (not individual days) can be purchased.

The first day of camp is an exciting and busy day. Some children will be experiencing nervousness about what to expect at camp, who they’re going to meet, and will they like it!? We get it!

On the first day, we encourage you to arrive a bit early (we suggest between 8:30 am and 9:00 am) on the first day only. This will allow parents and children time to acquaint themselves with the drop off/pick up location and procedures. This is a great time to meet one of the camp leaders and counsellors, ask questions you may have and request special groupings with friends/sibling/cousins, etc…

For anyone who has booked Before Care, early drop off is 8:00am – 9:00am. If you are running behind and will arrive after 9:00am to the campsite, please call our Support team at (226) 214-2050 (press 1 for Parents/Guardians) and our team will notify the camp. Most facilities will have their doors locked after programming begins at 9:00am, this is for security reasons. Alternatively, if you need to pick up your child(ren) from camp prior to the end of programming at 4:00pm, we also ask that you call our Support team or notify camp leadership when you drop off your child(ren) at the start of the day.

Programming concludes at 4:00pm and the pick-up process begins.

After Care service is provided from 4:00pm – 5:00pm and is available for purchase through the camp registration process, or by calling our Support team to have it added to your account.

No, campers will not need to (and we request that they do not) bring any devices to camp. We are very pleased to provide a laptop for all campers at our Camp STEAM locations. This ensures all campers have equal access for all camp activities.  

To ensure their safety, all campers must be signed in at the time of drop off and signed out at the time of pick up, by their guardian. Guardians must indicate the names of the authorized persons for pickup on their online registration form and everyone must show identification in order to sign out a child. You will be required to show identification every day, even if we know you. No child will be permitted to leave camp without being signed out by an authorized adult. The same safety rules apply to all. Should a parent wish to add an authorized person(s) to the approved pick up and drop of list for their child, they may login to their account or call Head Office (226-214-2050).

We post this information on the location pages as soon as we receive it from our partner sites. In the case where Camp STEAM is located at a university or a college this information can take a while to be forwarded to us as they have internal procedures they must follow to make drop off and pick up as seamless as possible for parents. An email is sent prior to the start of each Camp STEAM weeks to all enrolled parents with this information.

As much as possible, we will be grouping the campers by grade. However, this depends on the camp location and the enrolment of any given week. As a not for profit organization, we do not have the means to employ extra staff to break down into smaller groups if we cannot group easily by age or grade. We cannot guarantee the ages of the campers prior to the camp week, nor can we guarantee how they will be grouped.

Please note, we will continue to follow the rules and regulations outlined by the Ontario Government and local Public Health Units for each camp location. Therefore, we reserve the right to update Camp STEAM’s Health and Safety policy as necessary.

There is at least one staff member at every site that has their First Aid and CPR certification.

In general, Camp STEAM is nut aware, in that we ask parents to provide nut free food for their children, but there may be some nut food products present at the camp facilities, as we rent our camp facilities and do not have control over what may be in the building. Please review our Camp Guide.

Participants may switch their camp week(s), if notice is provided to Head Office by contacting our Support team. This must be done a minimum of 14 days in advance of the start date of the original purchased camp session and is contingent on available spots for the requested week(s). There is no guarantee that sessions will be available for your requested date(s) and location(s). To contact our Support team, please email your request to support@campsteam.ca or call (226) 214-2050 to speak with one of our Support team members.

No. We suggest that parents evaluate their situation closely prior to enrolling their child and that should a situation occur where the child indicates they are not “having fun” or “didn’t learn anything”, strongly encourage them to try their best the next day. Children often focus on one thing during the day they did not like but in actuality they had 10 other positive things happen. Another suggestion would be to discuss the situation with the Camp Coordinator on site as there is often more to the story.

In the unlikely event that Camp STEAM Canada is forced to shut down due to a government order (ie. Pandemic related restrictions), the Participant will receive a credit for the full value of their purchase, to be used in the 2024 camp season.

There is a 2.4% Credit Card Surcharge added to all transactions to cover the fee that payment processors charge. This is a non-refundable fee and it is applied at checkout.