NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF BARRIE
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The City of Barrie is cancelling all current City-run summer day camps and registered programs and issuing refunds. While the Province has announced that day camps may be able to proceed in July and August, the guidelines for operating these camps have not been released.
Once the Province releases guidelines, staff will review and determine if summer day camps and registered programs are possible, and if so, what the format might be.
“We know that even if we’re able to have summer day camps and programs this year, they will look very different from previous years — not what parents had originally registered for,” Steve Lee Young, Manager of Recreation Programming. “If we are able to offer day camps this summer, we will provide full details of the new programs and parents can decide if they would like to register their child.”
Currently, the City has over 3,000 registrations for its summer day camps and programs. Staff are expecting that if the Province permits the day camps to proceed, the health and safety requirements will likely reduce the number of participants and the types of activities that can be offered.
City recreational facilities remain closed by provincial order. It is expected that less than half of the number of campers/participants would be able to be accommodated in a new camp or registered program format, given the physical distancing restrictions.
In the meantime, staff are preparing for what camps and programs could look like, trying to anticipate the new protocols that would need to be in place in order to operate safely. Once the Province provides approval and guidelines for summer camps, it will take the City approximately five weeks to hire staff, train and prepare for the camps and programs, if they do proceed.
Refunds will be processed automatically over the next few weeks. Customers will receive further notification once their refund is about to be processed.
For more information, residents can contact the City’s Recreation & Culture Services by calling 705-739-4223 or emailing [email protected].
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