A popular local weekly summer camp will see a hefty price increase from $10 per child per week to $75.
In previous summers, the eight-week Fun in the Sun program for kids aged six to 12 was $80 per child for the entire summer. This year, the price has jumped to $600.
The Monday to Friday Fun in the Sun camp will be at the Bold Centre and will have activities like face-painting, outdoor science experiments, field trips out of town, and visits to the pool.
Lac La Biche County spokesperson Shadia Amblie said that the old price of $10 per child per week was too low for the program to remain financially viable.
“This is public funding used for this program, and for years we were losing money,” Amblie said. “And now we’ve had to increase these prices for the sustainability of the program.”
Amblie said that they researched similar programs in other municipalities and found fees ranging anywhere from $135 to $225 a week per child.
“Our program is very closely related to other programs in the province and the $10 per child was by far the lowest in the province,” she said. “We really had to take a hard look and thought that $75 was quite fair.”
The registration numbers for this year is slightly lower than last summer, but Amblie hopes that advertising and a program called Everyone Can Play will attract more families to sign up their kids.
“Everyone Can Play is a financial support program and we partner with businesses throughout the community to help us sponsor the program so that it can be affordable for low-income families,” Amblie said. “The idea is that it shouldn’t be just one type of kid that can join the program, it should be available for every child.”
For more information on Fun in the Sun, call Allison Routhier at 780-623-6726.