Frequently Asked Questions

Since 1951, when the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) opened its first camp in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, Reform Jewish camping has been an integral part of the Reform Jewish experience in North America. For years without a camp at home, dozens of Canadian campers would travel each summer to one of the URJ’s eleven premier camping facilities throughout the United States. In 1999 a fifteen-year-old dream became a reality when the URJ opened its first and only Canadian camp – Camp George.

Since 1999 Camp George has served thousands of campers and has played a significant role in the strengthening of the Reform Jewish movement in Canada. Camp George enables Canadian Jewish youth to participate in Reform Jewish camping while enjoying the beauty and serenity of the Northern Ontario camping experience. At Camp George, Jewish youth from all over Canada and the United States participate in a unique camping experience that blends the best of Reform camping with the historic traditions of Ontario camping. Within this community participants forge life-long friendships and experience a truly transformative Jewish experience.

Yes, Camp George strives to assist families to help make camp accessible for all. This means working with our families, partnership organizations and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, to access financial support to offset the cost of Camp. The fee assistance process takes each family’s individual circumstances into consideration. The process is completely confidential and varies depending on where a camper resides. Please click here to learn more about our scholarship opportunities.

More information about medical policies will be released prior to the summer, as we continue to keep the health and safety of our community in mind.

Camp George is peanut and tree-nut free, and seed sensitive. All food is ingredient kosher and nut-free. We are able to accommodate a variety of food needs including allergies and sensitivities. Vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free meals are always available. We do our best to accommodate campers with special food needs. Please click here to view more information about our food at Camp.

Information will be sent to families regarding details about our transportation service and luggage drop off. For more specific questions reach out to campgeorge@urj.org

Campers can request 2 friends to bunk with. Once you are registered, this question is asked as a part of the Camp forms. We guarantee to honour at least one request. Please remember that one of our goals at Camp is for every camper to make new friends and uphold our values of Kehila and inclusivity.

More details will be released prior to the summer, as we continue to keep the health and safety of our community in mind.

Yes! At Camp George, we have Bnai/Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutoring support, and we offer one-on-one tutoring if your b’nai mitvah is before January of the following school year. Each week, a member of our education faculty will meet with the camper once. All materials should be sent with your child to camp. Camp’s Jewish Education program is designed to review and practice with the campers.

Birthday celebrations at camp are AWESOME! Counselors make every effort to ensure the day is special for your child. Camp honors each birthday with a sing-along at meals, cake for their cabin, and celebration. Campers are also allowed to call home on their birthday so their family can wish them a happy day!

More details will be released prior to the summer, as we continue to keep the health and safety of our community in mind.

Camp George’s campers come from all over North America and Israel. Majority of our campers are from the Greater Toronto Area. The other communities that we draw campers from are part of the Northeast lakes region: Ontario Canada; northern New York; Cleveland, OH, and its suburbs; and Erie, PA. As well as other areas in Canada like British Columbia, and Quebec!

While portable music devices may be valuable for the bus ride up to camp, they can only be used during quiet times in the cabin. Portable devices, tablets and cell phones (with SIM cards) are not allowed in camp for campers at any time. These items will be taken away and returned at the end of the camper’s session (see memo re: electronics in camp). Please adhere to this policy.

We are fortunate to have 90% of our summer staff team who have grown up in our Camp George community. They have also completed our Counselor in Training CIT program, a full summer leadership program of hands-on learning and placements with cabins and specialty areas. These staff have grown up living the values of Camp George and now to give back to the place that’s given them so much. We also hire staff internationally from Israel, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, and more to add to our cultural diversity and camp experience.

All staff is personally screened and selected by one of our camp directors to ensure the highest standards are met. Every staff member requires a background check and must be certified in CPR and First Aid at a minimum. A large amount of our leadership team is also Mental Health First Aid Certified (MHFA). Before camp begins, all staff participate in an intensive staff training program in addition to ongoing training throughout the summer, that covers topics including but not limited to: Camper care, mental health, emergency procedures, programming, DEI Diversity Equity and Inclusion training, and much more!

The make-up of the Union for Reform Judaism and our programs is as diverse as our population, therefore our communities represent that vibrant and unique fabric that makes up the Reform Jewish community. Through our policies and our programs, we work to reflect the URJ’s core value of Audacious Hospitality. We stand for a Judaism that is inclusive and reflective of a wide range of identities.

Please click here to view our page on the “You Belong” initiative here at Camp George.

Please click here to view our Gender Inclusive Practices & Policies.

Yes, all URJ program participants and staff must be fully up-do-date with all of their vaccinations, including those for COVID. Being fully “up to date” with all age eligible COVID vaccinations is required, including (when eligible) a booster. You are considered “up to date” with your COVID vaccines when you have followed the current Canada Public Health  recommendations. The required vaccination schedule will be different depending on your age, your health status, and when you began your vaccination series.

Parents send their children to URJ camps and programs and expect that their children will enjoy themselves, have positive social interactions, learn from the rich Jewish environment and most of all be safe and healthy. All the fun, friendship building, Jewish identity affirmation and character development can only happen if we are confident that individual safety and public health remain at the center of every decision made throughout the URJ camps and programs. Reducing the risk of vaccine-preventable illnesses from entering any of our camps or programs is the single most effective strategy to protect public health. This goal can be accomplished only through the appropriate vaccination of all members of our camp and programs. Please refer to our 2022 Vaccination Statement for more detail.

The URJ Vaccination Statement requires that all participants and staff are up to date as of 2 weeks prior to their program or camp session. If your child becomes eligible for the next dose in their vaccination series during the 2 weeks prior to their session or during the session, they are still considered up to date without that additional dose. The two-week time frame is in place to minimize potential vaccine-induced symptoms and any added stress during the immediate pre-camp period. Additionally, if you are up to date by 2 weeks prior to your session, this means there will be no requirement to obtain subsequent doses during a camp session. Please reach out to your Camp Director with any individual questions about this situation.

Yes, there are exceptions to the URJ vaccination policy, and however rare. In the rare circumstances that may require exemption, current documentation from a licensed Physician (MD or DO), or a Pediatric/Family Practice Advanced Practice Nurse (ARNP or PNP) not related to the individual describing the reason for exemption from immunization must be furnished to URJ Camps or Israel Programs. URJ Leadership and medical advisors will review and decide on each request on a case-by-case basis.

Please direct all Vaccination Exemption Requests to this form to begin the process:

https://urjyouth.wufoo.com/forms/xj1y0u60aqvyv8/

After completing the form, The URJ Integrated Wellness Director will communicate directly with individuals to gather the appropriate documentation and follow-up information needed to process and determine next steps for each request. We rely on the expertise and guidance of our URJ Medical Advisory Team in this process.

An experienced team of URJ staff oversees the development of COVID guidance for URJ programs. They work with our URJ Medical Advisory Team, who have expertise and specialization in public health and infectious disease.  They also rely on the guidance of the Camp George Medical Team and Ontario and Parry Sound Public Health guidelines. These teams are working closely with URJ program staff to develop guidelines and protocols that preserve the camp experience, protect our camp communities, and use evidence-based best practices.

The pre-camp strategies we used last year were very effective and we will use similar methods this year (though likely less stringent based on current conditions) to prevent COVID from entering camp (pre-camp testing regimen, pre-camp COVID behavior Brit). The 2022 COVID Brit will include guidance on how to minimize your camper’s COVID exposures in the week prior to coming to camp (for example, by masking in indoor public environments). It will not limit your camper’s ability to attend school, travel or participate in other camps in the days preceding their camp session.

We know that by increasing some layers of COVID mitigation, we may decrease others. By requiring that our camp communities are fully up-to-date with COVID vaccinations, we are hopeful that we can create a camp environment that feels more typical to a pre-pandemic summer season, including a shift toward using masks as sparingly as possible and in response to any changing conditions.

However, we do ask that you please send your child to camp with 1 high filtration mask (N95/94 or KN95/94) per day for the length of their camp session. These masks will be used only if elevated mitigation becomes necessary due to changing conditions. Camps will also have a supply of masks for this purpose. If your campers’ masks are not used at camp, they will bring them home at the end of the session. Outside of having to elevate our mitigation in camp, masks will be optional – so if your camper plans to wear a mask when it is not required, please send more masks than outlined above to accommodate their individual preferences.

As stated above, we know that by increasing some layers of COVID mitigation, we may decrease others. By requiring that our camp communities are fully up to date with COVID vaccinations, we are hopeful that we can create a camp environment that feels more typical to a pre-pandemic summer season, including a less stringent focus on cohorting in camp, while remaining agile and ready to pivot with any changing conditions, as directed by Public Health.

Similar to last summer, there will be a COVID testing regimen at the start of each camp session. We plan to complete this arrival testing regimen by the end of the first week of each session. There will be ongoing surveillance testing for the adults and staff on camp, who are allowed to take time off outside of campus (pending COVID conditions). Additionally, we will test any community member exhibiting symptoms of COVID infection. Our testing regimens will be responsive to any changing COVID conditions.

To protect URJ camp communities from further spread, and to simultaneously ensure that any COVID+ community member receives appropriate care during their isolation period, we are requiring that all camp families plan for retrieving their family member(s) from camp to isolate at home (or elsewhere off campus) if they test positive for COVID at camp (we can discuss any specific challenges around this individually). We are requiring families to retrieve their family members to isolate off campus, because housing and caring for COVID+ community members is operationally incompatible with our camps’ capacities (facilities and staff).

COVID+ community members can return when they test negative for COVID by rapid antigen test, on 2 consecutive days. They can begin testing daily after 5 days of isolation and can return to camp once 2 consecutive days produce negative RA test results. The COVID Leader at each camp will discuss this isolation plan individually with each affected family. Information about the potential return to camp will be individualized by camp-specific variables, such as session length.

Additionally, all URJ camps will follow leveled protocols for COVID decision-making, and agility based on changing conditions both on and off campus. If we encounter COVID on campus at any of our URJ camps, Directors will follow these protocols for elevating our mitigation efforts to reduce any COVID spread on camp.

As long as Canada Public Health continues to treat COVID as a pandemic to contain, including isolation of positive cases, we will follow that guidance. In addition to following the guidance of Public Health and our Medical Advisory Team, we are leaning on our organizational values: taking care of ourselves, our camp communities, and the broader community. We are requiring families to retrieve their campers and staff to isolate off campus, in large part because taking care of COVID+ community members (especially in the unlikely case of widespread infection) is operationally incompatible with our camps’ capacities (facilities and staff). Knowing that a small percentage of our community will be unable to leave campus for isolation (international community members primarily), we are planning for this possibility.

If the COVID conditions outside of camp change during the summer season (for example, a new COVID variant or surge takes place during the camp season), we will follow our protocols for elevating our mitigation efforts. These changes in mitigation levels will be determined by the URJ team of staff and medical advisors and the guidance of Canada Public Health for best practices. For campers, we do not anticipate any programmatic changes unless we encounter COVID inside camp.

We know that by increasing some layers of COVID mitigation, we may decrease others. By requiring that our camp communities are fully up-to-date with COVID vaccinations, we are hopeful that we can create a camp environment that feels more typical to a pre-pandemic summer season, including welcoming visitors to camp in a limited way. What we do know for sure, is that if conditions allow us to safely welcome visitors to our camps this summer, we will use the available layers of mitigation around these visits as appropriate and based on current COVID conditions (physical distance from campers, masking, rapid tests on arrival, shortened visits, and more).

Visitor’s Day: We have made the decision, in the interest of health and safety for our community, to once again, not host our camp families for an in-person Visitor’s Days at Camp this summer. After careful consideration, we concluded that having so many outside people on site for such a short period of time will be too risky to the community.  We will continue to plan for a meaningful opportunity for you to check in with your campers during their time with us.  Stay tuned for updates on these alternative plans as they evolve.

Last summer, our camps were “bubbled” – this means that no staff came or went from campus during the entire summer season. In this way, we were able to keep COVID out of camp, using a stringent and layered mitigation approach. While that was appropriate last year and played a significant role in our success in keeping COVID out of our URJ camps, it was burdensome to our camp staff. This year, staff will be allowed to leave campus for time off. We will put multiple layers of mitigation around this practice to minimize the risk of COVID entering camp. Our protocols will utilize guidance from Public Health to inform staff on how to safely spend time off camp, and we will be ready and agile to make adjustments to this plan based on changing COVID conditions.

We will only be taking trips that meaningfully contribute to the camp experience AND present exceedingly low COVID risk, as well as using added layers of mitigation when appropriate.

Under ordinary circumstances, we are unable to provide refunds/credits for campers missing partial days of the summer.  URJ camps/immersives staff work year-round to plan for a joyful, meaningful, and safe summer season and feescover expenses for staff, programming, facilities, operations, and more.  However, we acknowledge the challenges COVID poses to summer 2022. In recognition of this, and as a thank you for your partnership, trust, and commitment, we will provide $50.00/day as a credit for future programs in the event your child misses a portion of the summer due to them testing positive for COVID while at camp.  We also encourage you to explore travelers’ insurance and/or other types of insurance to provide extra protection.