Summer camp operators facing post-pandemic staff shortages, certification backlogs

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Though health restrictions have lifted, some summer camp operators say they're grappling with staffing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Raf Choudhury, owner and founder of Baseline Sports, says he normally hires between 15 and 20 young adults to work at his summer camps in the Toronto region.

But he says so this season, he's only managed to hire five people.

Choudhury says he feels the young adults he normally hires realized during the COVID-19 pandemic that they valued their summer leisure time and they've decided to work less or not at all this year.

Nick Georgiade, the director of Camp Temagami in northeastern Ontario, says staffing is a challenge every year, and he hasn't had a tougher time finding people.

However, his canoeing camps require many courses and certifications that were halted during the pandemic, and that meant he had to start hiring and arranging training for his staff much earlier in the year.