Ontario Camps Association

• previously known as Ontario Camping Association

In 1900 A.L. Cochrane established the first private camp in Ontario. By 1925, the number of private camps in Ontario had increased to only six or seven. The camps established during this time period (1900-1925) were mainly for boys over the age of thirteen. Co-ed camps were unheard of at this time. As of 1925, the private camps were making headway in their development and agency camps, such as the Y.M.C.A., were opening up across the province. The leaders and directors of these camps, wanting to keep abreast of new trends, began to regularly attend the American Camping Association conventions, due to the absence of a Canadian or Ontario camping association. This situation, although helpful to the evolution of camps in Ontario, was not ideal. Issues relevant to Canadian camps, and camp leaders and directors, were not being addressed by the American association. As a result, the camp leaders in Ontario decided to form their own group. In the first few years, the meetings were informal, and held in private homes. The first members were A.L. Cochrane, H.E. Chapman, Mary Edgar, Mary Hamilton, Fern Halliday, and Taylor and Ethel Statten. One of the main topics of discussion centered on the need for a camping association in Ontario. In 1933, this group of private camp leaders and directors formally founded the Ontario Camping Association. Taylor Statten was made the first chairman of the Association. It was decided by the founding members that the Association would not just be for private camps, but would be open to anyone engaged in any aspect of camping. The interests of the founders of the Association encompassed the development and maintenance of high camping standards in the field of camping for children and an appreciation of the wider aspects of the camping movement. They believed that through discussion and consideration of common camping policies and problems, and by mutual exchange of ideas and knowledge, better camping would be achieved. The Ontario Camping Association was responsible for the development and implementation of standards for Ontario's children's camps, and, in 1941, in conjunction with the Provincial Department of Health, made the licensing of all camps mandatory. The headquarters of the Association are located in Toronto, Ontario. In 2012, the Ontario Camping Association changed its name to Ontario Camps Association.