We highly recommend you register your camper or leadership participant through your My Y account. Please reference our My Y FAQ for support. You can also call our customer service team at 1-877-303-2267.

Here are some things you can do to make registration as smooth as possible:

• Make sure you have created a My Y account with profiles for all the campers you are trying to register.
• Add new campers by going to your “My Y account” in the top right corner. On that page you will see a “manage family members” button on the bottom right. Here is where you can add all of the people you will be trying to register.  
• Make a wish list. This can be done by hearting the programs you are planning to register for. 
• When it is time for registration simply log on, go to your Wishlist, located in the top right corner, and register for your programs there. 
• Start counting down the days until camp next summer! 

The Y understands that the term "boy" includes cisgender and transgender boys, and "girl" includes cisgender and transgender girls. Please choose the cabin that reflects your child's identity or our all-gender cabin. Please ensure that when you are creating your child's account on My Y that the gender on their profile reflects the cabin preference your child is most comfortable with.

Yes! All-gendered cabins have been offered to our campers since Summer 2023. Due to the success, we plan to continue offering all-gendered cabins for overnight programs participants.

Anyone! We understand that gender is a spectrum. The purpose of creating all-gender cabins is to ensure all campers regardless of gender identity, including but not limited to 2-spirit, gender-queer, cisgender, transgender and non-binary youth, can be in a space that they feel comfortable as themselves in, and can connect with others. The bathrooms in the cabins will be available as a binary boy's/girl's, and campers can choose whichever aligns best with their gender or expression. In the bathrooms, there are also door covered toilet and shower stalls for privacy.

Parents will register their Pine Cone by choosing boy or girl, however the lodges that the Pine Cones stay in will have a mix of both boy and girl rooms. The bathrooms in the lodges will be set up to have one for boys, one for girls, and campers can use the one that aligns with their gender.

Yes. Financial Assistance is available for Summer Camp programs. We are thrilled to increase the maximum family income that is eligible for our financial assistance for this coming summer, AND to increase the amount that we will be awarding to our communities overall.

Please do not hesitate to apply, even if you are unsure if you will be eligible.

Financial Assistance will be awarded based on needs, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please ensure you apply as soon as possible, to ensure our team is able to assess all applications before registration begins for all summer programs.  
Make sure when you are applying that you select the area of interest overnight programs.

Apply for Financial Assistance here.

If your child will be 17 by December 31 at the end of the camp year, they will be eligible to apply to be a first-year staff at YMCA Camp Pine Crest! Please have them email PineCrestHiring@ymcagta.org to communicate their interest and we will support them in providing the job postings, when available. Or check out our Employment Opportunities for regularly for job postings. .

Yes. At the YMCA, we believe that the camp experience can benefit all children. That is why we work to the best of our capabilities, to provide an engaging, comfortable and inclusive camp experience for campers of all abilities in our camp programs. Additional staff support is given to camper groups, along with 1:1 staff support to individuals who require additional support in order to fully participate, including campers with disabilities. Your camper will be integrated into the cabin group entirely and will attend all programs with their cabin group. If you have a camper requiring 1:1 support, please contact the Camp Office directly at 1-877-878-9622 prior to registering for more information.

Request to withdraw from camp can be done through your My Y account before April 30 of the current camp year. You will receive a refund minus the non-refundable deposit.  No refunds will be granted for non-medical withdrawals received on or after April 30 of the camp season.

If you are withdrawing due to a Medical reason, these can only be done via email and require a medical certificate.  You can send your medical request along with the Medical Certificate to register@ymcagta.org.   You will receive a full refund minus a $30 administrative fee.

Refunds will not be issued in instances where the camper is removed from the camp program at the choice or request of the camper or campers' guardians or is dismissed from camp for contravention of camp guidelines or code of conduct.

You can register online. We recommend registering for the bus after you have selected and registered for your overnight camp program.

Registering for the bus will cost $25 each way (financial assistance available).  

Bus registration will be open until one week before your camper's program start date. We book our busses based on registration prior to June 1. After June 1, limited spaces may remain on each route. Late registration is not guaranteed for buses.

All new families to YMCA Camp Pine Crest will have an opportunity to register for overnight camp (ages 5-14) starting January 7 when we open a set number of spots after the pre-registration period closes.

No. We only offer a select number of all-gender cabins. Other cabins are broken up into boys’ cabins and girls’ cabins.

Depending on the session you are registered for, there are two to three locations in the Greater Toronto Area (Central YMCA, Hollywood Public School, Scarborough YMCA). Take a look at our registration page to see which buses are available for the session you are registered for.

The bus is convenient, avoids extra driving for parents, and helps to reduce carbon emissions. If you are not interested in the bus to camp, please consider the ride home as Friday traffic to Muskoka can be quite congested.

Campers can change in their cabins in designated spaces made private with curtains, or in gender specific washrooms located near by. In the washrooms there are door covered toilet and shower stalls.

Each cabin section has a washroom with boys on one side, girls on the other. Campers use the side they identify with, or can use the washroom in our Wellness area in the main dining hall where we have an all-gender washroom. In each dining hall, there are boys and girls washrooms. In Winter Lodge, we have an all-gender accessible washroom as well.

In our boys, girls and all-gender cabins, there is a smaller section with a bunk bed, where at least one camp counsellor aged 17+ will provide overnight supervision. At Pine Crest, all overnight camp programs are supervised 24/7. Senior Leadership participants 16+ are the only age that does not have supervision at all times over night.

Follow the links below to our Preparing for Summer Camp page for detailed packing lists.

Overnight Camp Packing List

Leadership Packing List

For all of our trips, we require all of our staff to be Stanard First Aid certified and we ensure there are 2 Lifeguards on the trip. For our Leadership trainers, we require even more certifications to ensure they have the tools to keep campers safe while on the river.

Our camper trips are typically within cell reception and camp provides them with an emergency phone in case they need support or guidance. If a camper trip is out of cell reception we will send them with a spot device so they are able to communicate with camp.

In terms of our leadership trips, many travel outside of cell reception so they carry a satellite (SAT) phone and spot device for emergency contact and to send updates to camp.  All of our trip staff are trained and highly certified to be able to handle basic emergencies and communicate directly with the camp. Detailed route plans are also completed prior to departure and left on camp property.

These plans include possible resources in the travel area and details of emergency response locations as well as times when evacuation or assistance may be required. In cases where they need assistance, the camp staff on the property assist with evacuations and communicate all plans to parents.

This is not an optional part of our programming at Pine Crest. If a child is unable to participate in the canoe trip portion of their program due to medical reasons, parents will be asked to pick up their child while the group is away on trip as we do not have additional supervision for campers without groups.

First-time campers will have a lot to get used to when adjusting to camp life - and then we go on a canoe trip! It is important to discuss with your camper that they will be using the washroom in the woods and bathing with lake water while on canoe trips.
Our staff are great resources to ensure campers feel comfortable, however, a discussion and a little practice before coming to camp doesn’t hurt - prior to camp! To reduce the waste on trips, groups ration their toilet paper for the group rather than for the individual. Women and girls will be advised of safe and environmentally sensitive ways to dispose of their feminine waste on trip.
Please ensure that if your child wears contact lenses that they bring their glasses for trip, with a neck strap if possible. It is much safer and easier to manage than trying to manage an eye infection later. If your child wears glasses please pack 2 sets in case of an emergency while at camp.

Yes. We find that even after reading all the information the camp provides, campers and parents often have very specific questions that can be answered during our Camper Information Day/Nights. Once you have registered, you will receive more information about our Information Day/Nights closer to the date in June, and we will inform you whether it will be held in person or virtually.

Family Open House is a great way to help your child feel comfortable for their upcoming camp experience. Families are welcome to come to camp for the day to take a site tour, enjoy a buffet lunch, and explore our program areas including the waterfront. Family Open House will be held in mid-June. Keep your eyes out for our emails for more details.

On the first day of each session, parents can move their campers into their cabins before saying their goodbyes while passing the care to our welcoming counsellors. Parents and visitors are reminded that YMCA Camp Pine Crest is smoke-free. This policy affects all buildings, grounds, and programs conducted off-site. We also ask that families who bring their dogs on arrival day keep them on a leash and out of our camp buildings.

For the safety and wellbeing of all campers, we do not allow parents to visit camp while in session. From experience, we find it is harder for children to adjust to camp when parents come to visit. It can also spark feelings of homesickness in other campers. Only under special circumstances will parents be allowed to visit during the session and only with prior consent from the Camp Director.

Please come to camp on Family Day or join us for Family Camp if you’d like to participate with your child.
Family Camp: In addition to our camper programs, we also offer a week of Family Camp every summer. This program is exclusively for families and includes camp activities for all ages.
Please refer to our Family Camp page for more information regarding these programs.

We are excited to tell you about our partnership with Bunk1.com! Bunk1 is a secure, easy to use, summer website services that let you stay in touch with your camper all summer. It offers the ability to send your camper one-way emails as well as a photo gallery.

To set up a new account and visit our Online Community:
1. Go to our website at Bunk1.com
2. Click the red “Stay in touch, email your camper” button on the left side of the page
3. Click “Register Here”
4. Your invitation code will be sent to you closer to summer
5. Fill out all the required information
6. Purchase Additional Bunk Note credits (you will need a credit card)
7. Send an email to your camper!

Or send mail to your camper at:
“Camper Name” — “Camper Cabin/Trip Route”
YMCA Camp Pine Crest
1090 Gullwing Lake Road
Torrance, ON,
P0C 1M0

Our day campers take part in both camp-wide events and their own unique activities. You can view a sample day camp schedule here.

The Leadership Selection Process allows us to assign trips to campers based on their interest and our availability. Here's how it works:

1. Take some time before Leadership Selection opens to chat with your participant about which trips they are interested in for summer 2025. 
2. Leadership Selection will open from October 21–24. You can submit your choices during this time. Each participant will select their top three program choices and list them in order of interest. 
3. Once the selection process has closed, our Pine Crest team will randomly assign a number to every participant that has applied for the Leadership Selection. 
4. Our team will work down our master Leadership Selection list chronologically and award programs based on availability. 
5. If the program your participant has listed as their first choice is full, we move on to their second choice and then their third choice.  
6. Please make sure you add 3 choices for your participant. Selecting only one trip does not increase your participant’s odds of getting on that trip. If their first choice is full and they did not select a second or third choice, they will not get put on any other trips during the initial process.
7. Participants are added to a waitlist for each of the program choices they are not awarded a spot in. If you are not awarded any of your three programs, you are added to the top of the waitlists for your indicated programs. 
8. The Contact Centre will start reaching out to families regarding Leadership Selection results via email on October 29. Once your participant has been awarded a program, you will have 48 hours to accept or decline. 
9. If a space becomes available, the Contact Centre team will work their way down the waitlist to fill all our leadership programs. 
10. All final offers will be sent out and should be accepted by November 15. If there are any open spots left after this time, they will be opened to the public during early registration on November 19. 

Note: For participants applying for Senior Leadership programs this year, we ask that you sign up for a phone interview time. The interview window will be from October 21–24. Due to the nature of our Senior Leadership program and the intensity of some of our trips, we are using this interview to gauge tripping and leadership experience to determine suitability for our more senior programs.   

For our Junior Leadership and Intermediate Leadership participants (ages 13–15) our leadership trainers sleep in the cabins with them. Senior Leadership (16 years old) is the only year we do not provide overnight supervision. However, Senior Leadership still has cabin checks and curfew.

Throughout your visit, there will be staff available to assist should you have any issues, questions or if there is an emergency. If you are staying overnight, there will also be a staff member onsite to assist you, if necessary. Upon arrival, you will be provided with our on-call phone number, as well details on how to reach our staff should you need anything. You can find this number posted in plenty of places across site, so it will be easily accessible to you. The nearest hospital to Pine Crest is located in Bracebridge at 75 Ann St, it is approximately a 40-minute drive by car. Alternatively, Orillia's Soldiers Memorial Hospital at 170 Coleborn St W, is roughly 45 to 55 minutes by car.

Please contact us to discuss any specific needs that your participants or family members may have.

Tobacco smoking is permitted in designated areas onsite. On arrival, a Camp Pine Crest staff member will let you know where the designated smoking areas are. Cannabis smoking is not permitted, unless proof of prescription is provided.

Unfortunately, at this time, pets are not permitted at Camp Pine Crest, unless they are an identified service animal.

The health and safety of all our guests and visitors is our top priority. We are closely following and abiding by all Government and Public Health restrictions and guidelines. Currently we are not requiring masks at camp, but we support those that choose to wear them. Our team has also increased the frequency in which we clean and sanitize our indoor spaces we well as high-touch surfaces. If you have any questions, concerns, or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us or view up to date details here: https://ymcagta.org/vaccination

There are a few reasons you may not be receiving our emails.  Your My Y account is not up to date with your current email address, your email is left blank under Main Content under your My Y account or typed incorrectly, our emails are being flagged by your email account as spam, or you have flagged an email from Camp Pine Crest in the past as spam.  If you flagged an email as spam or unsubscribed, our email system can no longer send you emails. We would advised that you change your email on your account. 
Looking for more help with your My Y account? Check out these FAQ.

Sign up!  Navigate to our contact page and scroll down to the ‘Staying Connected’ section.  Fill out the fields and be sure to check that you want to receive news, updates, and offers from YMCA Camp Pine Crest.