London, Ont. summer camps return with program changes, staff shortages

From program changes to staff shortages, summer camps near London, Ont., are feeling the impacts of COVID-19.

From program changes to staff shortage, summer camps near London, Ont., are feeling the impacts of COVID-19.

Jory Elliott, the director of camps, programs and marketing at Pearce Williams Summer Camp and Retreat Facility, says it’s been two years since they ran a summer program.

“That’s lead to the biggest challenge for us where we just don’t have the pipeline to feed staff into the program,” he said. “Some of the traditional pathways that we would find staff (hasn’t) produced more than it normally would.”

Elliott says the camp, which is located south of St. Thomas, would normally hire about 40 staff each year, most of whom are former campers.

However, a two-year break disrupted the hiring chain.

Another summer camp, Camp Kee-Mo-Kee west of London, is dealing with the same challenge.

Executive director Jill Hodgins says COVID-19 has greatly impacted the continuity where campers grow up to become counselors.

“Many kids look from a very young age to becoming that person that they see as a role model at camp,” she says. “The pipeline for staff that are experienced with your camp and camp’s culture… that continuity has definitely affected things.”