The Jack and Pat Kay Centre Camp

Amazing swim instruction, making new friends, sports with Jay and theme days - these are just a few of the things my son is excited for this summer.This will be his third summer at Centre Camp and he's been talking about going back since the end of last summer. This year will be special, because after my younger son spent last summer enviously watching the bus pull up at our house each morning, this summer he gets to join in the fun.For me, it was rewarding to see my son come home with a huge smile every day and talk excitedly about his fun-filled day at camp. And by the end of last summer he was also swimming independently - thanks to Centre Camp!My younger son is well-prepared for his first summer at the camp - he has even learned the Centre Camp song from his older brother, complete with dance moves!

The fact that google doesn't even allow me to give the camp 0 stars is outrageous. I have worked at Centre camp for the first AND last time. First of all I would like to address that the only REASON why this camp has very high ratings are from the camper's PARENTS. Not even staff that have written reviews give them high ratings. The camp is filled with spoiled, entitled kids, that will do whatever they have to do, to get what they want. They don't listen to the counsellors nor the specialists at all, they're swearing at the staffs and doing whatever they want. Not only are the kids a big problem but the head staff in-general are a major problem, they don't do any work, mostly the counsellors do all the hard, major tasks. One time, I had to deal with a kid who was getting bullied in our group and when I had communicated that back to the director and other head staffs, they just said we'll deal with it, but they never did. That's one thing I wanted to mention, COMMUNICATION is terrible with this camp, they never reply back to you emails on time. They always emphasize on how staffs should communicate with the camp, but the fact that they never answer emails nor phone call is pretty ironic. Also the pay is horrendous, staffs are barely making $2 per hour, sure head staff may earn more but that's because of their age. Another thing to touch base on, the camp loves favoritism and nepotism. I've seen many staffs get bonuses, when they're the ones not doing any work, and being lazy. Also, the camp does NOT feed you at all, and to think that they're paying us less than $2 per hour while being there for full 7 hours. ITS INSANE. If I was being honest, I only worked here for the experience and I regretted it so much, I have seen a lot of staffs quit within a week or two of camp starting, due to the draining tasks that we have to do. Plus the camp has no standards whatsoever on who to hire and not to hire, they will accept anybody, LITERALLY. So, future staff please rethink your decision on working here at this camp, whether it's the Vaughn or Toronto Location. Hopefully if you had been smart to look at the reviews, you just saved yourself from wasting 7-8 hours, 5 times a week for a month. You're welcome.

This is my son's second year at camp and he loves it. From the first day last year he told us that Centre Camp is the best camp ever. The counsellors are warm and friendly and make him feel right at home. The pick up and drop off have been flawless for us (we pick him up on foot) and communication has been great. If I have any questions or changes to make to his pick up time or meals, my emails are immediately responded to. Thank you for making camp such a positive experience for our family.

I am so happy I made the decision to send my daughter to centre camp for her first real camp experience. She had the most amazing summer with the most amazing counselors. She came home with smiles every day. This camp is very well run and extremely organized. The staff is so loving, responsible and caring. Two big thumbs up!!!

Disclaimer, I have really struggled with wether on posting this review as I really don’t want to bad mouth a UJA camp but I feel these things need to be said. We have spent 3 summer for our children at centre camp. It is sad to say, we will never go back. 2020 was at the north campus and was great, truely. Unfortunately we had a really bad summer 2021 experience for a multitude of reasons. This was at the Toronto campus, Bathurst Shepard. We thought however we’d give it another shot for 2022 for both our 7 and 5 year old (hoping it was just pandemic and other staffing problems), our mistake. There were so many things that were sub standard, and just wrong that occurred on a daily basis. From lack of staffing to lack of programming, to inadequate bus supervision and substandard (and many times non existent/cancelled) programming, these were just some of the problems the camp has been dealing with 2 summers in a row. Unfortunately the acting director (this summer we were informed the normal director just left without reason the day before camp was to start) seemed just not to care and would rather turn a blind eye to the issues they have internally. His idea of dealing with a tough problem was to just ignore, deflect and in one particular situation take out his frustrations on a 5 year old child. It was extremely unprofessional and just down right low class and wrong on his behalf. I could say so much more and offer pretty damming specifics, and I feel bad for airing this but it’s the unfortunate truth. This camp has gone way downhill and if they continue this way they will continue to have families leave their programs en mass.

This past winter break was our first time attending....we only signed up for the first week, but the kids loved it so much that we signed up for the second week as well. Adam, Lauren, Phil and Bryan, along with all the counselors, are so warm, caring and friendly, and they are all very involved in all aspects of the camp experience. There was so much excitement throughout the day. The kids had an amazing time, so much so that we're going to sign up for the summer camp as well. We highly recommend the camp, and the people who run it do an excellent job creating positive energy throughout the day.

Literally the worst summer camp job anyone could ever have. Do yourselves a favour and don’t bother applying.. the head staff are completely ignorant, rude & have 0 sense of common courtesy. The parents of the campers definitely do not see how staff are treated and it is a very underrated issue.Evan, the director of the camp is 100% the reason why counsellors feel unappreciated. He holds himself selfishly on a pedi stool over others and thinks he is all that when in fact he is not. It’s actually very sad.

My daughter attended the final two weeks of the summer and immediately felt like she had gone to Centre Camp all summer. By the end of the two weeks, her exact words were I wish I could go to Centre Camp everyday!" We loved the variety of activities

This was my 1st child's 1st camp experience and it was amazing!! He was welcomed so lovingly by the staff and was comfortable with camp from the start. He loved the programs, especially Sports with Jay and swimming twice each day. As a parent, I really appreciated the promptness of staff with any of my questions and the special events planned for the kids and families. It really gave us all a 'homey' feel. Thanks Centre Camp for a great 1st experience for my son and us parents!!!!! :) Loraine Yanofsky

This camp is the perfect example of how not to run a summer camp. My son was an employee here and he would constantly tell me how undervalued he felt. Communication is horrible, it took weeks for one of my emails to be read and responded to. Next is the pay. Sure, 2 dollars an hour might be good if you are a 9 year old mowing someone's lawn, but as teenagers who have to be active in society they are barely even getting paid enough to buy Mcdonald's. The owner of the camp does not care about the staff at all and simply sees it as a source of revenue. The facilities were built with donations from capitalists who only care about getting their name on anything they can. The standard that they hold you to is ridiculous considering the training that they have is only 3-4 days but they keep you there the whole day. They will hire anyone, apparently my son said he even saw other staff using e cigarettes on campus. Honestly a mess with all the administration and the structure of the camp itself, do not recommend.