Staff shortage reduces capacity at some Calgary summer camps
It is often tough to get your children into summer camps, but this year it will be even harder.
The City of Calgary said it has seen a dramatic decline in the number of people applying for summer recreation jobs.
In a written statement to CTV, city communication planner Josh Hesslein said, “the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant and lasting impact on The City of Calgary’s front-line staffing. Throughout our recruitment, we’ve seen approximately 25 per cent of the applicants for summer positions in recreation compared to pre-COVID years, and we’ve experienced a higher than normal attrition rate among new hires in this very competitive market.”
Hesslein added that the staffing shortfall has forced the city to reduce the summer programs it normally offers.
“The low number of applicants has significantly limited the number of recreation programs and services, like day camps, swimming lessons and drop-in programming, that we are able to provide this summer," he said. "In fact some late changes in staffing have meant that we don’t have enough staff to run two planned drop-in programs in early July, and other programming could be affected by further staffing challenges."
The city is still recruiting summer recreation staff in hopes it can maintain the programming it currently has on offer.
SAIT Polytechnic also offers summer day camps. The school also said its recruitment efforts are still underway, but said it has seen a strong return of pre-pandemic staff and expects to offer all its planned summer camps.
The staffing shortfall has forced the city to reduce the summer programs it normally offers
The University of Calgary also said it will be able to move forward with all of its planned summer camps, and reports no staffing problems.
Overnight camps have a different dynamic, and often recruit from a different pool of prospective counsellors and staff.
HARDEST HIT
Hardest hit among them are those that remained closed over the past two years.
Camp Horizon, located west of Bragg Creek in Kananaskis country caters to youth with disabilities and medical issues. It counts on returning counsellors to fill a large part of its summer camp ranks.
Easter Seals CEO Katherine Such said because it was closed for the past two years, Camp Horizon no longer has that pool to draw from.
"It has not been that easy. We've been hiring since February and we are finally finalizing every one we need right now, this week, but it's been a challenge to get and find qualified staff," said Such.
“Typically we would have rollover from previous years and we'd have staff returning and all that kind of good stuff. But because we have been closed for two years, it's been really difficult for us to pick up where we left off. So we're starting basically from the ground up here.”
Easter Seals has been recruiting counsellors internationally to fill its ranks, but even with that push it will only be operating at 75 per cent capacity this year.
Easter Seals Camp Horizon also faces the added hurdle of maintaining a high staff to camper ratio, with one counsellor for every three campers.
CAMP KIWANIS
Down the highway from Camp Horizon, Camp Kiwanis is already running some of its school programs, and camp manager Chris Sheasby said they expect to be operating at full capacity through the summer
"We were able to pull off summer camps in 2020 just doing day trips, and then last summer, we were able to do overnight as well with reduced capacity," said Sheasby who maintains that played a big role in the camp’s ability to remain fully staffed this year.
"We don't typically have a lot of turnover with our summer staff. We made a point of running the last two years with our leadership programs as well, so we'd be able to continue staff development pipeline."
The YMCA which runs popular cams like Camp Chief Hector west of Calgary said it is fully staffed for the summer and offering its complete suite of programming through the summer.
Similarly, the YMCA which runs popular cams like Camp Chief Hector west of Calgary said it is fully staffed for the summer and offering its complete suite of programming through the summer.
The bigger issue for many parents might be access to the programs that are operating. Every agency we spoke to today said its summer programs are seeing a surge in demand this year, and many already have long wait lists.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.