Toronto Opening Summer Camp Registration Tuesday, Launches Outdoor Fitness Program

Registration for city-run summer camps opens Tuesday, Mayor John Tory announced during the city’s daily COVID-19 briefing on Monday.

The program, called CampTO, will begin the week of July 5 and run through to August 27. It is open to children four to 12 years of age.

Mayor John Tory said the city will be offering “traditional day camp experiences including dance, drama, music, arts and crafts and active games” at approximately 160 locations across Toronto.

“Adapted and inclusive programs for participants with differing abilities will also be available,” he added.

The city is also introducing CampTO Plus this year — in-person specialty camps at community centres and museums which will offer specialized programs in French immersion, arts, creative writing, nature and science.

All COVID-19 public safety protocols will be followed and each camp group will stay together for the entire week and will not interact with other groups. A pre-camp health check will also be conducted via phone beforehand.

For those who are unable to attend in-person, the city will have virtual camp sessions, each about 45 minutes long.
“In total this summer, the city will offer more than 35,000 spaces for CampTO including adapted programs, virtual workshops and CampTO Plus,” said mayor Tory.

Tory says over 1,000 people were hired to support the program including returning staff and new hires.
Parents can register their children online or call 416-396-7378.
Five in-person registration locations are also available and will only be open on June 8 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.:

Centennial Recreation Centre – Scarborough

Dennis R. Timbrell Resource Centre

Driftwood Community Recreation Centre

Masaryk-Cowan Community Recreation Centre

Wellesley Community Centre

In addition to summer camp programing, the city is launching a new pilot program called ParkFitTO, offering Torontonians outdoor fitness programming, starting this weekend until September.
“The City of Toronto will offer outdoor, drop-in fitness workouts as well as weekly, outdoor group fitness and walking programs,” said Tory.

To facilitate drop-in workouts, many of the city’s recreation centres will move fitness equipment outdoors to nearby parks and other spaces.
The initiative includes a free “walk fit” program open to ages 13 and up, where an instructor will guide people through neighbourhoods and parks along with breaks to do stationary exercises. Sessions are limited to 10 participants per class.
Paid group fitness classes are also available for those 13 and older and include boot camp, high intensity interval training (HIIT), cardio dance and Zumba among others.

Registration for ParkFitTO also begins Tuesday.
Mayor Tory said the city is also looking to help gyms that have been impacted by COVID-19 closures. Permits for private businesses that want to run outdoor fitness, yoga or martial arts classes in park spaces will be free of charge this summer.

“I will be bringing a motion to the city council this week to waive the permit fees from now until October 3,” said Tory. “This gives both the people who want to take part in these classes as well as the businesses who have been so hard hit these past number of months a chance to do it without the financial burden of having to pay for a permit from the city.”

Permit holders will be expected to follow all provincial restrictions like gathering limits and noise limits.
“We are working to make sure that it’s a great summer for Torontonians,” said Tory. “These are programs that I believe will make a real difference in people’s lives as we all work to bring the pandemic to an end.”