cuisinier

director

camp director

shift leader

Camp Arowhon

The hours are endless. Working till about 11PM each night, waking up at 7AM each morning. Completely and totally awful pay, nowhere comparable to minimum wage (but this is allowed since you get to sleep in the cabins and eat the food). Most staff stay up until 1am each night because this is the only time they get with other staff. When assigned on night duty you’re forced to sit outside in the bugs alone from about 11PM until 1AM by a fire and then are to go to your cabin immediately.

 You only find out days off the week of, sometimes the day before. Days off are once a week, but are unorganized. They go from 5:30PM one day until 5:30PM the next. I often found myself having my day off from Monday night to Tuesday night, getting back to camp, and realizing my next day off is from Tuesday night to Wednesday night. Or with one day in between, from Wednesday night to Thursday night with no in advanced warning. This would mean going two weeks with no days off after because the new weekly schedule usually starts on Tuesdays (and trust me, you need the days off).  You’re allowed to leave camp on days off, but if you don’t have someone’s cottage to go to, you’re stuck at camp. On days off most staff just go to bars and get drunk and if you’re not interested in this you’re pretty much excluded on your day off and for most of the summer. 

The camp overworks their staff. Often councillors including myself had to deal with the bodily functions of children throughout the day and night. Completely exhausting. Kids would get so home sick that they would poo themselves and throw up and were left to clean it up.

The camp preaches opinions on being inclusive and kind to everyone and while they do this for the kids, some staff feel excluded and without friends all summer long. Honestly, great place to send campers though. They definitely do follow through with these morals and teachings for their campers with endless training to counsellors on how to handle and stop bullying. This review is not in any way a criticism of the camper experience, and I myself loved being a camper here. Being a staff however is completely different. If you’re a staff getting excluded, higher up staff will come to check in on you, but other staff members your age can be cliquey and exclusive.

Overall I’d say, being a camper is a great experience. Being a counsellor, not so much. Some love it though, and I’m not saying don’t give it a try, just really wasn’t for me for the reasons above. Just want people to know what they’re getting into.

So my advice, take this job if you’re okay with accepting 6 or less hours of sleep a night, dealing with children 24 hours a day, accepting not seeing other staff members often in a non work environment, living with almost no wifi signal or data signal for two months, constant physical work, and constantly putting the mental and physical health of the kids before yourself, even if you’re feeling unwell. These are just my feelings from working here.

In the future, when I think of jobs that have defined my work experience, I will 100% be thinking back to my time at Arowhon. While it's true that the days are long, the pay wasn't the same as what you'd be making in the city, and the bugs can be ridiculous at times, these factors are outweighed by the sheer amount of growth experienced from working here.

What stood out about Arowhon, even during my interview, was how much the management team pushes growth on both the campers AND the employees. It was a concept that was brought up multiple times in my interview with an assistant director, and reinforced once I reached camp. The training I received during pre-camp and throughout the summer has carried on with me after returning to the city, and has problem-solving keys that I will carry with me from now on. Their empathetic approach to situations quickly turns a staff team into a family. Building tight bonds with the campers is easy, as they are fantastic and very unique kids!

The days were long, normally starting around 7:30am (6:30am some days in my role), and ending around 11pm (sometimes later depending on role as well, or what's going on in camp). Days off are spaced out about once a week, however sometimes the schedule would get a bit messy and you'd end up having 2 days off with one day off in the middle, and then working for a week and a half straight. You certainly have to be a flexible individual, but the long hours also taught lessons about time management and how to push yourself to new extremes. If you love what you do, it's not much of a problem! Moreover, we liked to joke that the way camp validates you for doing a good job is by giving you more work or more responsibility, so if you're ok with that, it's a good place to experience new things!

If you like working in large teams with individuals from all over the world and different backgrounds, this is the place for you. The staff team gets quite close by the end of the summer, and while during the first few days, it took a while for returning staff to warm up to new staff, ultimately working collaboratively developed a sense of belonging. The opportunities to grow in your role and to advance to new positions are possible, but you certainly have to show your merit first and have a strong work ethic. That being said, management is fantastic at following staff's progress and determining ways to grow (and follow-up if feedback isn't being given). 

All in all, in my experience, the good outweighs the bad by a large factor. Plus, being surrounded by world-class lakes and forests, seeing a moose for the first time, and getting to make use of camp's amenities (and FANTASTIC food) makes for the experience of a lifetime.

Was hired as maintenance staff (woodworking) and the work itself is interesting. There’s a good variety every day when doing maintenance slips (troubleshooting doors, locks, decking, etc) and team is pretty helpful in clarifying and helping each other with issues and supplies. Lots of black flies mid-May to mid-June. Certain individuals who’ve been there for decades are extremely selfish, arrogant, and ignorant. They’ll think they’re experts on every topic, never admit wrongdoing, and are concerned only with what they want and what they can get. No desire to work with anyone or have open discourse to find the best course of action. Both direct and upper management seem to favour a culture of favouritism enabling that type of conduct, coddling, pampering, and pandering them and absolving them of any personal responsibility and accountability. They’ll find any excuse under the sun to justify and normalize poor behaviour. Certain staff can literally treat anyone any way they want with impunity and face little to no consequence. The mentality of consistently making excuses for those people, giving preferential treatment, removing any sense of accountability, and certain individuals being completely content with their arrogance, selfishness, and ignorance was something I couldn’t tolerate. Overall the work was interesting, got to work on some custom woodworking projects, but dealing with that behaviour and a management that enabled it was something I couldn’t get behind.


Took this job looking for a summer adventure. I worked as a counsellor and it was the best time of my life. The job isn't easy, you work 6 days a week with only 1-2 hours a day away from the kids (If you aren't a kid person, this definitely isn't an experience for you)! The view was beautiful and had the chance to learn how to canoe, portage, and wind surf. The kids were amazing and the culture is something really special. 
I've heard that this camp has the best food of any camp in the area and I am not surprised-- it was super good and I ended up gaining 8 lbs in my 2 months there. You definitely won't be making as much as any other job but you will leave the summer with amazing memories and lifelong friends. 

Something to note: this camp hires staff younger than other camps so you will be working alongside 16-17 year olds. I found this to be a little tricky, coming in with experience and coleading a cabin with a teenager that has never worked before. Most of the staff have been going to that camp their entire lives so it can be a difficult culture to break into. 

Most importantly, if you love kids, the outdoors, and meeting new people, you will not regret this at all. 

Terrible leadership. Seem nice on surface but their disregard for staff and campers becomes apparent when things get tough. Downright cruel treatment of staff who've been here for years when they needed help. Lots of favoritism/nepotism. Rules only applied to some people. No transparency. Staff constantly on edge as they could be fired anytime for no reason led to a tense and burnt out staff population and a bad staff experience. 
Many instructors overworked to a dangerous degree. 
Management can't be trusted. 

I really wanted to love this place, but in the end the kids were the reason I was willing to stay. They claim to prioritize mental health, but the hostile work environment makes things significantly worse. Staff are very cliquey, and there’s very obvious favoritism. Former campers can do no wrong, and new staff are punished for questioning authority. 

Management and people in power are very fake. It’s made perfectly clear that they’re willing to do anything to cut costs, and this especially affects staff. There were many nights that I went to bed hungry because there wasn’t enough food, or the food that was available was inedible (AVOID THE MEATLOAF AT ALL COSTS)

It's a remote overnight setting with kids so you have to be on call all the time, but it's so worth it for the experience of a lifetime! I made so many new friends and learned so much about working with kids and people in general that has served me in all areas of my life. They definitely have high standards for their staff but they need to to take such good care of the kids. Plenty of fun perks provided, like access to all the camp's facilities in your spare time, and there are medical and mental health staff to support campers and staff. 

Working at a summer camp is a dream summer job, and comes with many perks. The first is the setting- absolutely beautiful wilderness. Other positives include competitive pay (at the appropriate level, considering room and board is included), a highly professional but friendly working culture, and the fulfilling nature of working with children! It is a great place to work if you are willing to commit to long days being enthusiastic (110%), having a great deal of patience working with children of ages 8-16, and have a passion for the outdoors.

Camp Arowhon is the greatest place in the world. Maybe the pay isn’t that much but it is truly an incredible experience. You have the opportunity to shape kids lives everyday. As a camper, some of my biggest role models were and still are my councillors. I have never experienced an environment that encourages you to be yourself and welcomes being unique and special the way that Arowhon does. You form bonds in 2 months that you couldn’t form in the city in 2 years. It is really special and a great opportunity. 

I worked in the kitchen at camp summer 2019, it was an unforgettable experience! I really enjoyed the activities and learned a lot of new skills being in the kitchen. This is a great job opportunity for those that want an experience in a beautiful setting, the ability to learn something new, and meet different people (from all over!). 

The other staff are friendly and do their best to answer any questions, as well as sort out any issues you may have. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Cuisinier 3 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour
Director 2 salaries reported	$56,250 per year
Camp director 2 salaries reported	$56,250 per year
Shift leader 1 salary reported	$75.00 per day

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