The Tim Horton Children’s Foundation youth leadership camp will be located near Sylvia Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park, Premier Greg Selinger and foundation vice-president Dave Newnham announced.
“The Tim Horton Children’s Foundation camp will provide youngsters with positive, outdoors experiences while boosting confidence in their abilities through participation in challenging programs,” said Selinger. “They experience pride in their accomplishments as they succeed in attaining their goals, and they gain a more positive sense of what they can do on their own and as part of a team – basic skills for a productive life.”
“The proposed site doubles our capacity to provide youth with the chance to learn life-long leadership skills,” said Newnham. “Through this unique wilderness-based leadership development program, young people throughout North America will have the opportunity to experience the beauty of Manitoba at our summer camps. It also opens up opportunities for hundreds of economically disadvantaged kids from across the province to benefit from ongoing camp experiences throughout the entire year.”
Public consultations were held in the Whiteshell and Winnipeg in February. Sylvia Lake is part of the Winnipeg River system that flows from the Lake of the Woods in Ontario west through Manitoba into Lake Winnipeg.
The environmentally responsible facility is expected to host youth aged 13 to 17 in an innovative youth leadership summer program. Plans for the facility include a dining hall, creative arts centre, accommodations for up to 260 young people during the summer and other recreational and educational facilities.
The foundation has also committed to working with Sagkeeng First Nation and other First Nations to provide opportunities for aboriginal youth to participate in customized programs, as it has done at all other foundation camps in Canada.
The Tim Horton Children’s Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization providing opportunities for children to develop into positive, contributing members of their communities. It operates six camps in Canada and the U.S., and has provided unique outdoor experiences to more than 120,000 economically disadvantaged children in the past 35 years at no cost to their families.
“Manitoba youth will have the opportunity to learn and build self-confidence year-round thanks to the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation Sylvia Lake location in the Whiteshell,” said Selinger. “The building and operating standards of the foundation will respect the surrounding environment and help children learn about Manitoba’s outdoor wonders.”
The Manitoba Bureau of Statistics estimates the camp will have economic impacts from construction and ongoing operations as follows:
• An initial $12-million capital investment is estimated to result in $8 million in additional spending in Manitoba and produce GDP at market prices of $8.4 million. The construction phase will produce about 150 person-years of employment in total, with 70 of those workers directly employed on the project.
• Annual operations are estimated at $2.15 million. The total impact on Manitoba GDP resulting from camp operations expenditures is estimated to be $2.3 million. Total Manitoba employment impacts are estimated at about 70 person-years annually including 55 full-time-equivalent jobs to run the facility and its programs.
