Boys' Summer Sports Camp in the Laurentians, Quebec

A summer at Nominingue is built around choice. Boys pick their own programme from a range of sports and activities rather than being assigned one track, so two campers in the same tent can spend the same afternoon doing completely different things.

Campers live in tent groups with counsellors supervising. The camp maintains a 1:3 staff-to-camper ratio, and all senior staff undergo police background checks. The infirmary is open 24 hours a day with two first-aiders on staff, clinics run three times a day for medication dispensing, and a general hospital with an emergency room is a 15-minute drive away. A doctor is usually on site throughout the summer while campers are at camp.

The camp operates in English, and most campers are anglophone. About 70% come from Quebec, 20% from Ontario and 10% from outside Canada. Around 20% of parents say their son speaks little or no English and choose Nominingue for that reason; counsellors encourage non-English speakers to practise, and tent groups are set up so that non-anglophone campers have English-speaking friends in their tent.

First-time campers arrive both alone and with friends. The camp's own guidance is that coming solo can make it easier to meet people, while arriving with a friend can take longer to step outside a comfort zone.

Sessions, rates and dates are published on the camp's own pages. The office operates from a winter city address until the beginning of June, then moves to the Nominingue address for the summer.

What's included

- Residential summer camp session for boys - Tent-group accommodation on site - Supervision at a 1:3 staff-to-camper ratio - Choice of sports and activities programme - 24-hour infirmary with two first-aiders - Doctor on site through the summer (usually) - Medication clinics three times a day - English-language camp environment

What's not included

- Travel to and from camp - Personal spending money - Items listed on the camp's packing list - Medical costs not covered by the on-site infirmary - Anything not listed on the camp's Sessions, Rates and Dates page