Quebec sleepaway camps given greenlight to operate this summer

© CBC Quebec’s camps association is asking for $10 million in financial assistance to be able to implement public health measures at the camps.

Quebec’s camps association says the province’s public health authority has given it permission to open sleepaway camps this summer, with special measures in place. 

The exact details of these measures are still being finalized and will be announced in the coming days, the Association des camps du Québec (ACQ) said Friday.

Day camps had already been given the green light to open this summer, and the province announced Thursday that counsellors are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, provided they have proof of employment. 

The association is also calling on the government to provide the province’s camps with $10 million in financial assistance, in order to implement additional public health measures. 

“Access to the vaccine for our employees is excellent news, but it doesn’t change our request for financial assistance,” ACQ director-general Éric Beauchemin said in a statement.

“Camps will have to conform to a new set of sanitary protocols in order to ensure the safety of all our campers and employees.” 

The association says, if they are granted that money, $6 million of it would go to sleepaway camps specifically, in part to make up for the revenue they lost last year. 

“ACQ members will be working double-time over the coming weeks to finish recruiting staff and to put all necessary measures in place,” Beauchemin said. 

Last summer, the Quebec government allowed only day camps to open with special measures like bubbles in place. Sleepaway camps were forced to remain closed.