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STEM Camp Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to STEM Camp! Below are answers to our most frequently asked questions, related to our 2023 summer camp season.  When we launch summer camp 2024, will update this information to reflect any new details. You will also find some location-specific FAQs on the webpage for each location. If you don’t find the answer here for your question, we’re here to help:

  • Email us at support@stemcamp.ca
  • Call us at 519-475-6600
  • Click the “Support” button on the bottom right side of our website to open our live chat (available during business hours)
  • Complete our Contact Us form

General Information

Children between the ages of 5-13 are eligible to enroll. Based on the activities and overall structure of the camp, campers must be at least 5 years old by July 1, 2023.

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 STEM Camp, 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.

All lost and found items will be kept at camp until the end of the last week of camp, at which time they will be donated to a local charity if unclaimed. They will not be shipped back to Head Office. STEM Camp strongly recommends that you label everything and check daily to ensure that your camper has returned home with their belongings. Campers who bring valuables of any kind to camp do so at their own risk, so please leave valuables at home. STEM Camp is not responsible for any damage, loss or theft of personal items brought to camp.

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, an Activity 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 requirements 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 facilities are air conditioned. Each location page for a specific city, in the FAQ section of that page (at the bottom) identifies whether each facility is air conditioned. We understand that some days get quite hot in the summer, so precautions and measures are taken to lessen the impact of the heat if a particular camp location does not have air conditioning. Fans are installed, frequent water breaks are taken, outdoor activity is limited during heat advisory days, freezies and popsicles (with parent consent) are provided to campers, water activities are planned, and more to help minimize the impact of the heat. The activities your children are involved in are of an academic nature and not considered strenuous. Please note, refunds will not be given due to hot days at camp.

Due to changes in our registration process, STEM Camp Gear will not be available at the opening of registration. We will be launching an online store for STEM Camp Gear in early March 2023, and will send out a link when purchases are available.

Once you purchase camp gear (t-shirts, bucket hat, and/or baseball cap), it will be delivered to your camper on the first day of their first camp week.

Activity Information

Absolutely! When selecting themes for each summer, we strive to ensure activities appeal to all campers. Themes are based on the interests of campers 5-13 years old, based on movies, tv shows, computer games or the latest craze amongst kids. All our activities are created with both our male and female campers in mind. It is also important to note that while all activities relate to the weekly theme, more importantly, they are all STEM-based and gender neutral. If your camper is interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, they will enjoy their week with us regardless of the theme! Read more about our themes and activities

Yes! Each year we continue to add more and more 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.

Sometimes special guests visit various locations to augment our programming, as health and safety allows (for example, during COVID, guests are not permitted in person). As guests are booked they will be announced on our website. For example, in summers of 2021 and 2022, campers during our Star Wars week got to speak virtually to an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency!

A Day at Camp

Our camp program operates from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.

We also offer early drop off starting at 8:00 a.m. and late pick up 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.  Please note, only entire weeks (not individual days) can be purchased.

Yes! 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 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. Please note, only entire weeks (not individual days) can be purchased.

A typical day will always begin with campers sanitizing their hands under the watchful eye of camp staff.

Campers are divided into cohorts and a sample camp day schedule will look something like this:

  • 8:00am – 9:00am: Before Care – purchased at time of enrollment (STEM Games)
  • 8:55am – 9:00am: Camper Drop Off
  • 9:00am – 10:00am: Microbit Activity
  • 10:00am – 10:20am: Snack
  • 10:20am – 12:00pm: Hands on Activity
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm: Lunch + STEM Games
  • 1:00pm – 2:00pm: Minecraft Activity
  • 2:00pm – 2:15pm: Snack
  • 2:15pm – 4:00pm: Hands on Activity
  • 4:00pm – 4:15pm: Camper Pick Up
  • 4:00pm – 5:00pm: After Care – purchased at time of enrollment (STEM Games)

Many of our activities may take place outside, depending on the weather. Outside activities may take place onsite at the camp, or at a nearby green space or park/playground. Activities throughout the day are based on a variety of health and safety factors as well as weather.

It is important that all campers come prepared for a full day of great activities and fun. Please be sure your camper has the following items every day:

  • Lunch and snacks are provided by parents/guardians, STEM Camp does not provide food to campers. There is one lunch period and 2 snack breaks, where children will have an opportunity to eat, refresh and play games. We encourage parents to pack nut free lunches and snacks (we are a nut aware camp, not a nut free camp, unless the site is nut free, which will be noted on that location’s page on our website). Be sure to read the section on allergies and restrictions later in this document. There is absolutely no sharing of food allowed at STEM Camp. Please send reusable containers as garbage items will be sent home with your camper.
  • Water bottle
  • Facial covering (if required by public health)
  • Pencil case containing basic school supplies (pencils, erasers, scissors, markers and/or pencil crayons)
  • Weather appropriate, comfortable clothing (packing a change of clothing is also advisable)
  • Closed toe and heel shoes must be worn to comply with camp safety rules (preferably running shoes)
  • Sunscreen (in addition to bringing sunscreen, please ensure to apply it prior to arriving at camp in the morning as well)
  • Bug spray
  • Hat and sunglasses
  • Any doctor prescribed medications (STEM Camp staff will not administer medications except in the case of a life-threatening situation such as administering an EpiPen which is provided by the parent)

Please do not bring toys to STEM Camp and please leave all electronic devices (including cellphones) at home. If you need to contact your child, call our Support team (519-475-6600) and we will contact the camp to relay messages or plan for your child to call you if it is urgent.

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 campers at all locations for use at camp, which ensures all campers have equal access to the high quality technology programming we offer at STEM Camp, and to devices which are ready to go for all camp activities that they are needed for.  

Campers spend approximately 2 hours a day completing coding and robotics activities and participating in Minecraft builds.

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 camper. You will be required to show identification every day, even if we know you. No camper 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 (519-475-6600).

 

STEM Camp staff will bring the camper(s) to the normal drop off/pick up location and the parent/guardian will be required to sign out their camper(s). For your camper(s) to be released from camp, the person signing them out must:

  • Show Government Issued Photo ID, every time you sign out your camper. If you do not have acceptable ID with you (ie. driver’s license, passport), your camper will NOT be released. To speed up the process and avoid an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved (including your camper), please do not argue with staff who are enforcing STEM Camp rules and doing their absolute best to keep your camper safe. We will wait while you retrieve your ID. This rule applies no matter who you know at the camp and how many times you’ve already picked up your camper. Approved pick up persons must be 18 years of age or older, no exceptions.
  • Be listed on the Approved Pickup List. Regardless of the relationship to the camper, anyone picking up MUST be listed on the Approved Pickup List (which is located on the “Household Form” of your online account). You filled this out when you registered your camper for STEM Camp and you can modify it at any time by logging in to your account and clicking the link for the “Household Form”.

    The same safety rules apply to all parents/guardians. Should a parent/guardian wish to add an authorized pick up person(s) to the approved pick up list for their camper, they may login to their account online or call our Support team (519-475-6600) and they will gladly assist you.

We take the care and safety of your camper(s) very seriously. Under no circumstance will a camper be permitted to leave camp without being signed out by an authorized adult that has verified their identification by showing government issued photo ID.

We post this information on the location pages as soon as we have it. In the case where STEM Camp 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. An email is sent prior to the start of each STEM Camp week with this information.

As much as possible, yes. However, this depends on the camp location and the enrollment 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. We cannot guarantee the ages of the campers prior to the camp week, nor can we guarantee how they will be grouped.

Health & Safety

So far, no. But please keep in mind that as rules change, they may or may not change for summer camps, as well. In other words, rules for summer camp may be slightly different than how they are affecting your day to day life. We are extremely proud to report that we did not have one case of COVID-19 spread throughout any of our sites in 2022. We are approaching 2023 with the same vigilance.

As the COVID-19 restrictions and protocols are fluid, the situation in January 2023 could look different than camp season in July and August, 2023. Please keep an eye on this page, call our office or email support@stemcamp.ca if you have any questions.

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 STEM Camp’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, however, STEM Camp counsellors DO NOT administer medications (unless it is an emergency such as the use of an EpiPen). If your child needs medication throughout the day please arrange for a parent or a designate to come and do so. Also, please ensure this information is communicated clearly on the application form when enroling your child.

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

Not necessarily, STEM Camp is classified as a daycare/summer camp and may be permitted to operate in a lockdown zone provided our site partner is willing to host us. Therefore, unless we are instructed by the government to shut down our summer day camp, or we no longer have a site available to us, no refunds will be offered after June 1 2023 if we are still able to run our camp.

In general, STEM Camp 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 Allergy Statement.

Specifically, some sites we use do have nut-free policies which we do respect. Nut-free sites (where absolutely no nut containing or ‘may contain’ nut foods are allowed) include:

  • Sarnia (Grace United Church)
  • Milton (St. Paul’s United Church)
  • Toronto Beaches (Hope United Church)

Cancellations and Refunds

Participants that have purchased camp sessions, services or merchandise products prior to May 1, 2023 may request a full refund (minus the 2.6% credit card surcharge) for any reason, if such a request is made to Head Office on or before April 30, 2023. Please contact our Support team via email at support@stemcamp.ca or by calling (519) 475-6600. Please note, this applies to new purchases made for the 2023 camp season, not for camp sessions, services or merchandise products purchased in 2022, or any previous season, for which credits were issued. 

Camp session purchases made on or after May 1, 2023, through to August 25, 2023, are considered FINAL SALE. No cash refunds will be granted, or credits issued, for ANY reason. Please be aware of this when purchasing camp sessions on or after May 1, 2023. If you are not agreeable to this condition, do not proceed in purchasing camp sessions. Before and after care services are refundable at any time, including throughout the camp season, as long as the service you purchased is cancelled a minimum of one full business day prior to the start of the camp session for which you purchased the service. To cancel before or after care, please contact our Support team via email at support@stemcamp.ca or by calling (519) 475-6600. 

In the event that STEM Camp cancels a camp location, session, day, service or merchandise product, before or after May 1, 2023, a full refund will be issued to the Participant. Reasons for cancellation include, but are not limited to: funding availability, lack of enrolment, insufficient staffing, or supply chain issues. Decisions to cancel camp locations are done with consideration to families searching for summer care options for their child(ren) and best efforts are made to finalize these decisions by May 1, 2023, however this is not always possible. 

In the unlikely event that STEM camp 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. Camp sessions, services or merchandise purchased in the 2022 season, for which credits were issued, will be rolled over to the 2024 season. 

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@stemcamp.ca or call (519) 475-6600 to speak with one of our Support team members. 

Credits issued to Participants in previous seasons must be used by August 25, 2023, or the Participant forfeits the value of the credit. No further credits will be offered in 2023, for ANY reason, other than a government mandated shutdown of summer camps (see above). 

STEM Camp reserves the right not to offer refunds or credits after May 1, 2023, under any circumstances, including, but not limited to:
1. Inclement weather or unforeseen facility closures 
2. No air conditioning in a facility or it is hot outside 
3. A camper is removed from STEM Camp as a result of inappropriate behaviour or as a result of parental bullying of STEM Camp staff (see Camper Removal Process and Parental Behaviour above)
4. A health or safety situation, including situations resulting from a pandemic, epidemic or other health-related matter 
5. The Participant’s decision not to attend for any reason at any time 
6. Unforeseen illness or injury
7. A child decides that they are “not enjoying” STEM Camp. This happens in life, and we are not under any illusion that STEM Camp is for everyone. Please talk with the camp staff about strategies to make the camp more enjoyable but realize that sometimes a child just does not enjoy something. This is no one’s fault, and children need to learn how to cope with situations that are not, in their opinion, ideal for them.  

Camp week(s) can be switched, 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@stemcamp.ca or call (519) 475-6600 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 STEM camp 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. Camp sessions, services or merchandise purchased in the 2022 season, for which credits were issued, will be rolled over to the 2024 season.

Payment and Credit Details

Payments can be made by credit card during the registration process. VISA and Mastercard are accepted.

Any credit rolled over from 2022 will remain on your account until August 26, 2023 at which point any remaining balance will be considered a donation.

As a not for profit, STEM Camp does not have a formal subsidy program as our fees are already at cost. We suggest parents contact their local service clubs and agencies to enquire about existing summer camp subsidy programs. A call to your local MPP and MP offices could also provide some ideas as to funding.

There is a 2.6% 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.

Our Mission

STEM Camp is a Canadian not for profit organization with a mission to inspire Canadian youth in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

Contact Us

123 Huron St. Embro, Ontario N0J 1J0
519-475-6600
support@stemcamp.ca