Camp YMCA Kanawana: Summer Camp Experience in the Laurentians

In regular camp programs, campers spend most of their day with their cabin/tent group and counsellors. They eat meals together, choose activities as a group, and do their bedtime routine together. In the afternoons, they are scheduled for two blocks of what we call “Interest Groups,” where they get to choose their own two activities for one week at a time, apart from their bunkmates. 

Campers get to choose other activities or spend time with their friends in other sections or cabins/tents during “General Swim” time twice a day.

Our chef works closely with a dietician to ensure that our meals are varied and healthy for growing kids. 

Meals are served at the table “family style,” meaning that our staff can oversee how their campers eat during every meal. 

We serve three meals a day, offer fruit and water throughout the day as an extra boost, and snacks most evenings. 

We also accommodate vegetarian, lactose-free, as well as and pork- or beef-free diets. We do not serve any products with nuts, and do our best to ensure that none are brought onto the camp – but we cannot guarantee a 100% nut-free environment. 

For dietary restrictions other than those listed above, you can always contact the camp director to discuss your options; working with our chef, we should be able to find a way to accommodate your camper!

Campers can communicate with their parents via good old-fashioned snail mail, and once a week we offer to scan and email a letter home for every child on site; campers on canoe trips will not have this option. Parents can communicate with their children by sending an email that will be printed and delivered once a day, or letters by regular mail, or even packages through Canada Post or UPS/FedEx (we do not recommend Purolator, as they don’t always deliver directly to camp). 

When sending packages, PLEASE do not include food or candy, because they attract various critters into the tents and cabins. Please note that the post office is responsible for delivery times and there may be significant delays. We recommend sending one letter or two before your camper arrives at camp, so that they can get them sooner! More information on how communication works can be found in our Parent Guide online.

Should there be an urgent need for you to contact the camp directly, you can always call the camp phone line and our office staff will connect you to the appropriate person, i.e. the camp director, your camper’s section director, or even set a time to speak to your camper directly. 

Also, any child who has a birthday while they are at camp gets to call home.

All campers are evaluated in the water during their first couple of days at camp. This evaluation will determine whether they can swim in the shallow or the deep end of our designated swimming area, and whether or not they can use our boating equipment on their own, or need to be accompanied by a staff member. 

The children can be re-evaluated anytime throughout their stay to obtain their “blue cord,” which would allow them to swim in the deep end and go boating on their own. All participants must wear a PFD when using water equipment outside the designated swimming area (water trampoline, canoes, kayaks, SUPs).

If your camper needs to leave camp for a specific reason, i.e. a medical appointment, school exam, sports try-out, etc., you can contact the camp staff and schedule a short absence and pick them up and drop them off accordingly. You can communicate with the camp director or section director directly to make arrangements. 

We do not offer partial sessions as such, because the remaining portion could not be filled by another camper, and so it would be a spot taken away from someone who wanted to be at the camp for the entire two-week period. If necessary, you can drop your camper off late, or pick them up early, but we do not recommend doing so as they would miss out on of the full camp experience!

Our buses offer round-trip transportation from Pierre LaPorte High School in Town of Mount Royal (1101 Rockland Road). For departures to camp, you should arrive at the school between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on the Monday when camp starts. 

Campers will return between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the Friday the session ends. For further details regarding pick-ups and drop-offs, please consult our Parent Guide online.

Every camper who comes to Kanawana will receive a water bottle on their first day at camp to ensure that they stay hydrated throughout their stay. Upon leaving, they will also get a camp t-shirt and photos with both their group and with the whole camp to take home as souvenirs; a portion of the tuck fee covers the cost of those items. 

The remaining balance of the tuck fee remains in their account to spend at the camp’s “tuck shop,” where we have additional camp-related swag items and other useful things like toothbrushes, flashlights, batteries, or stamps to mail letters home and even a few snacks. Your camper can also use the money in their account to buy items from the camp store, and any unused funds at the end of their stay can either be refunded upon request, or simply be put towards our campership fund for future seasons. 

You can request for additional funds to be added to their camp store account as needed; they start off with $30 to spend at the store.

Campers in the Junior sections (Woodsmen and Pioneers) sleep in cabins that accommodate 10, with 2 staff members in their own small room within that cabin. There are six upper bunks and four lower bunks, with cubbies for each camper to store their personal stuff for daily use. Their duffel bag/suitcase/trunk goes under their bed and holds most of their clothing. Every camper bed has its own window and the cabin has a front-covered porch for hanging things up to dry, or simply for keeping shoes outside the main cabin room.

Campers in the Senior sections (Coureurs des Bois, Pathfinders, Rangers, Trailblazers, Voyageurs, Foresters and Adventurers) sleep in platform tents, namely a wooden platform with bunk beds, covered by a heavy canvas tent and waterproof tarp. This group consists of 8 campers and 1 to 2 staff members all sharing the same space. There are clothes lines for hanging things to dry, as well as some shelves for storing items of daily use. During the day, campers are encouraged to roll up their tent walls to let the air flow freely and then roll them down at night to keep the bugs away and stay warm.

Counsellors are assigned to groups based on their abilities and experience. Junior counsellors having their first experience with campers will always be paired with an older, more experienced counsellor for their first session.

Counsellors are always at least 3 years older than the campers they supervise, as per ACQ (Association des camps du Québec) guidelines. The Pathfinders and Pioneers groups are made up of girls and non-binary campers; Coureurs des Bois and Woodsmen consist of boys and non-binary campers; Senior Kanawanians and Voyageurs are co-ed groups. Staff are not assigned based on gender identity, but if your camper needs to be placed with counsellors of their own gender identity exclusively, you may contact the camp director and make that request.

The Explorers program is a short trip across flat water (lakes and hiking) for 11- and 12-year-old campers. It is a great option for beginners to gain experience, though for safety reasons, we do require that these campers be strong swimmers, i.e. able to get their “blue cord” during the swimming evaluation.

The Adventurers programs are shorter canoe trips for campers aged 13 to 16. Sessions 1 through 3 are  white water (river) trips, and session 4 is a flat water outing. As with Explorers, Adventurers should be confident swimmers but do not need vast canoeing experience to take part in these trips. We recommend these programs to older campers as a first canoe-camping experience or to campers who have participated in the Explorers program but have never been on a white water excursion. 

If your camper already has some canoeing experience, then the Voyageurs program is the one for them. This trip is open to campers aged 13 to 16 as well, but lasts 8 days, as opposed to only 4 or 5 days as the others. Sessions 1 through 3 are white-water (river) trips, and session 4 is a flat water (lake) outing. Voyageurs should be strong swimmers and we recommend that they have some experience with canoes.

Voyageur Ultimate is a much longer, white-water adventure lasting 26 days, for relatively experienced (or VERY adventurous!) teens aged 15 to 17.

Camp YMCA Kanawana is an inclusive community that strives to welcome youth with different needs and diverse abilities.

However, our camp is located in a natural setting and features uneven terrain. As our resources are limited, it is preferable that campers can participate in daily activities with minimal support.

To help us assess the needs of your child, please write to wellness.kanawana@ymcaquebec.org to get a participation request form. 

Once you return the completed form, we will be able to determine whether we can provide the assistance required. 

Please note that the number of companions per session is limited.