Participants are accounted for 24 hours a day. The vast majority of the time they are directly with their counsellors. However, during clubs and skills they are supervised by other trained staff members. Counsellors sleep in the cabins, and are ready to help the campers if they need anything throughout the night.
For our Junior Leadership and Intermediate Leadership participants (ages 13-15) our leadership trainers sleep in the cabins with them. Senior Leadership (16 years old) is the only year we do not provide overnight supervision. However, Senior Leadership still has cabin checks, curfew and is gender-specific overnight accommodations unless otherwise stated.

Our Wellness Centre serves the health needs of everyone at camp. The wellness staff are in charge of the day-to-day routine of camper health checks before and after canoe trips, delivering medications, and handling incidents and accidents on site.
Our Wellness Director is an experienced healthcare professional who has additional wilderness first aid experience and is joined by a full wellness team each session to provide appropriate medical attention for our camp population.
All participants visit with the wellness staff upon arrival to camp, before and after out-trips, and again before going home.
We advise families to have their children examined by a physician annually; however, a physician’s signature is not required on the Health History Form.
During Arrival Day, our counsellors will ask a series of medical questions to parents and campers. This gives our Wellness Team answers to questions which campers might not know independently. Depending on the answers, we may ask parents to check in with our full Wellness Team while they are with us on site. This includes issues relating to lice, broken bones, or medication.
The Wellness Centre staff will keep you informed about your child’s health, especially in the case of a change in health, a trip to the doctor, or an emergency. If you have any concerns or questions regarding your child’s health while they are at camp, our Wellness Staff will call you back directly to discuss your concerns. In order for us to provide the best care possible for your child, please make sure to be as specific as possible on your child’s health forms.

When campers start to feel sick, Pine Crest does everything it can to nurse them back to health as soon as possible. If over-the-counter medications, extra rest, or even a hot cup of soup are needed, we will provide those remedies. Camp is a very challenging environment to handle contagious illnesses. For this reason, we work hard to ensure that we know the health of our campers and staff and do everything we can to minimize the potential for spread of illness. It’s our camp practice to treat injury, illness, and infectious diseases as per recommendation of the local health unit.
We cannot list everything that may occur with children; however, for common illnesses or viruses including impetigo or chicken pox, children will be taken to a local clinic for assessment, prescription for medication will be given, and campers will be asked to return home until they are no longer contagious. Unfortunately, we do not have the space or the additional staff supervision to support individual campers for lengthy medical stays in our Wellness Centre and feel that they will be much better supported at home to make a speedy recovery and return to camp.
In addition, having campers with any type of contagious illness recover at home helps us to reduce the potential for spreading illness in our community. Families will be responsible for any costs associated with prescriptions and will not be reimbursed for the time at home.

We try to ensure that at Camp Pine Crest we are a nit-free environment, however individuals may come to camp with lice. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that your child is in good health when they arrive at camp and this includes ensuring they are lice-free. We recommend getting them checked thoroughly for lice within the week prior to camp.
Within the first 24 hours of their arrival at camp, cabins visit the Wellness Centre where lice checks are done by our staff. If lice or nits are found, the child is immediately given a shampoo treatment at camp, their parents will be contacted, and the rest of the cabin is checked as well. By health standards we also inform all other parents of children in that cabin that their child has been exposed to lice.
As per the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, campers should have one shampoo treatment, wait 7 days as recommended, and then have a re-treatment to ensure the lice is gone. Picking nits is also a thorough and necessary process to ensure they are nit-free. In order to check an entire cabin it takes our wellness staff hours to complete and this is time away from the hundreds of other campers and staff that may require medical support.
If you are contacted about your child having lice at camp upon arrival (within 24 hour check), you will be asked to pick them up from camp and after a second shampoo treatment and a medical note saying the lice is gone, they will be able to return to camp. If lice is found during a session, treatment will be done on site, followed by additional nit-picking and follow up to ensure they have not spread or worsened.

Meals at camp are eaten together in our dining halls. Each cabin eats together, family style, with plenty of food. Our kitchen staff prepare nutritious, tasty meals and snacks that follow the Canada Food Guide.
Individuals who have special dietary needs will enjoy a supplemental menu modified to suit their needs. These special requests are to be noted on the Camper Information Form prior to arrival at camp. The Food Services Directors will be on hand during Arrival Day and throughout the session if you have any particular concerns about food allergies or dietary questions. As part of our commitment to supporting campers with food allergies and intolerances, our Food Services Directors have formal training in managing and supporting food allergies provided by Anaphylaxis Canada.
For more information see Dietary Restrictions and Allergy Accommodations

To help us maintain an environment that is safe for campers with various allergies, we request that parcels sent to campers do not contain any food. If a camper receives food in a package, the office staff will store this food in a safe location and return it to the family when they leave camp. However, if the food may or does contain nuts, it will be disposed of.
For more information see Dietary Restrictions and Allergy Accommodations

Camp is a very active place. We make sure that all of our campers and staff stay healthy by promoting the regular application of sunscreen and bug spray, adapting our outdoor activities in the case of extreme weather, providing regular water breaks, and ensuring that healthy snacks are available throughout the day.

YMCA Camp Pine Crest has specific policies and procedures related to all waterfront activities to minimize the risk of injury. Most importantly, no swim areas are ever open without NLS lifeguards on duty. Boating is one of our major camp activities on and off site. For this reason, we require that all staff and campers wear a Ministry of Transportation approved personal floatation device (PFD) while boating. All PFDs are provided at camp. If you choose to send your child with their own PFD, please ensure that it is clearly labeled.

Each morning, campers have the option to participate in Radical Risers and jump in the lake! The cabin that attends Radical Risers the most wins a special prize.

Following breakfast each day, campers and staff return to their cabin to participate in cabin cleanup and try to get a perfect score for the entire session from Captain Cleanup. This is a great time for cabin mates to contribute to the cabin and will be assigned roles within the group to achieve high scores. In an effort to maintain high hygiene standards, cabins with repeated low scores may be asked to miss programming in order to clean their cabin.
Cabin groups are challenged to compete against others to get the highest scores for these programs, and have an opportunity to win a prize at the end of the session!

During skills, our campers can work to complete skill levels. Campers are awarded their skill cards on the last day of camp to recognize their hard work and achievements.
The levels are a series of progressive skills that campers can work towards mastery in that particular area. Campers are led in small groups by qualified staff members to earn levels in one of these ten skill development areas (not all skills are offered every session):
• Canoeing:
Campers learn the basics of paddling and have the opportunity to earn Ontario Recreational Canoeing and Kayaking Association (ORCKA) Basic Canoeing levels with qualified ORCKA instructors.
• Swimming:
Lifesaving Society and YMCA certified swim instructors teach basic and advanced swimming lessons.
• Archery:
A chance to practice your aim with a bow and arrow at our archery ranges. There will be plenty of opportunities to build your own targets and challenge your friends.
• Kayaking:
Qualified staff provide instruction at the flat-water level, concentrating on basic strokes and kayaking fundamentals.
• Natural Arts:
Get creative at our Natural Arts Centre with wood, clay, wax, paper, leather and beads.
• Outdoor Living Skills:
Build shelters, learn navigation, cook a gourmet meal over the fire, practice for out-trip and much more. Come explore nature with telescopes, microscopes, bugs, gardening, animal tracking, bird watching and exploring the site.
• Snorkeling:
Learn the art and science of this popular diving sport. See what treasures you can find on the bottom of our crystal Clear lake.
• Land Sports:
Get active on land as you learn and play various team sports, lawn games, and field games. You might even have a chance to invent a game or two!
For Senior and Pioneer campers:
• Climbing:
Learn about rock climbing techniques and safety, and experience what both our low and high ropes courses have to offer. (Note that while this skill is limited to Senior and Pioneer campers, all campers are welcome to experience climbing with their cabin groups).
• Sailing:
Try out the winds on Clear Lake in one of our sailboats. Campers will learn how to skipper the boats, right a tipped boat and sailboat set up/maintenance.

For the afternoon and evening, activity choices are made democratically by the cabin group at the beginning of the session, and modified on any given day to meet the changing needs of the cabin. Groups choose from an exciting variety of activities that may include: canoeing games, stand up paddle boards, cooking pizzas in the pizza oven, playing an exciting game of survivor, story time, stargazing, low and high ropes adventure programs, picnic lunches, disc golf, hula hooping, and much, much more!

Clubs are held each day before and after dinnertime. This is a time for campers to choose to go to a skill area they have not tried yet. Weather permitting, there is always a free swim or paddle offered during each club time. Before dinner there is also Natural Arts and Crafts and Archery, while after dinner is Outdoor Living Skills and Land Sports. In both clubs blocks, we also run a camp classic game of GaGa Ball, and have a space for campers to recharge whether that be by reading, drawing, writing letters, etc. Each camper must choose one club to attend, and with clubs of varying energy levels there is always something for everyone!

Most leadership trips travel outside of cell phone service so they carry a satellite (SAT) phone for emergency contact and to stay in touch with Pine Crest. The SAT phone is stored in a waterproof case and carried by one of the trip leaders at all times. Contact with YMCA Camp Pine Crest is scheduled, typically every four to six days depending on the length of the trip. Groups are able to contact camp using their SAT phone at any time in case of an emergency. Calls are kept short, relaying important information only, to preserve the SAT phone batteries.

All of our trips’ staff are trained and highly certified to be able to handle basic emergencies and communicate directly with the camp. Detailed route plans are also completed prior to departure and left on camp property. These plans include possible resources in the travel area and details of emergency response locations and times when evacuation or assistance may be required. In cases where they need assistance, the camp staff on property assist with evacuations and communicate all plans to parents.

The satellite phone provided to trip leaders can be used for emergencies, but unfortunately family members cannot call. Any mail and/or messages will be at camp awaiting your return. It always feels great to hear from a loved one upon arrival back at camp after a long trip! On our check-ins, we also try to get an update on any exciting things campers have experienced so we can pass this information along to your family. All families will receive at least one email with updates while their participant is out on trip.

All of our leadership trips carry a combination of water filter pumps and aqua tabs to ensure that the water consumed on-trip is free from water-borne bacteria. It’s camp policy that all staff, campers and leadership participants treat water prior to consumption and cooking.