The increase in the minimum wage, the economic context, the labor shortage and the changing needs of children are driving up the price of day camps in Mauricie, and particularly in Trois-Rivières.
Families will have to review their budget for summer vacation, because the pre-pandemic day camp formula is over.
“Children need more support. So priority is given to small groups. It is certain that we have more and more children with challenges, that they need supervision and personalization in terms of service, so by having small groups we can offer this quality to our young people”, explained Janie Belcourt, communications manager at Complexe Sportif Alphonse-Desjardins in Trois-Rivières.
A new reality that has a cost for the organizers. “We hired two additional resources. A doctoral student in psychology and a psychoeducator in order to provide expertise both to the facilitators, but also to intervene in certain cases with children who are experiencing greater difficulty,” said the director general of the Center Loisir Multi-Plus, David Bouchard. .
At the Center Loisir Multi-Plus, it was decided to dissociate itself from the program of the City of Trois-Rivières, which explains the considerable increase in the bill. A registration for the summer cost $600 and climbs next summer to more than $1000.
A departure that forces a reorganization for the City of Trois-Rivières, which wants to keep its service offer. The managers of the city’s day camp realized that by offering a seven-week service, the attendance rate never exceeded 60%. In order to make the places profitable, they decided to offer weekly registrations.
All the day camp managers we spoke to today have confirmed that they are increasing the bill by $10 to $30 to offset, among other things, the increase in the minimum wage.
“Everything is increasing everywhere, so are we. A science camp, we have a lot of equipment for which we pay a lot more. We also had to review the salary,” detailed this time the general manager of Technoscience Mauricie, Nancy Mignault.
That’s when you find manpower, as in all areas, counselors are rare and that puts a spoke in the wheel for day camps that have to offer a reduced daycare schedule.
The craze for day camps remains and the Center Loisir Multi-Sport and Complexe Alphonse-Desjardins have already opened their registrations. The majority of places have already found takers.