Do you accept 18-year old staff?

Short Answer:

Yes, we do make exceptions and accept 18-year old staff if they fulfil certain criteria.

Detailed Answer:

Our program is open to applicants who are aged 18–27 years old by June 1st of their placement year and satisfy our basic eligibility requirements.

However, there are some extra differences for applicants who are 18-years old.

1. Standard

It usually costs summer camps more to hire international staff than it would do for them to hire local staff. Therefore, our camps generally use our services to hire staff who are older than 19+ to help justify that increased cost. This means that 18-year old staff are harder to place unless they have exceptional experience in a relevant field and are altogether outstanding applicants. We, therefore, hold any 18-year old applicants to a higher standard than we might do others.

2. Pocket Money

As above, generally, camp budgets for 18-year old staff are lower than for staff older than 19. So, 18-year-olds will receive ~$200 less pocket money per placement compared to staff who are 19+. For our summer program, this means you can expect a pocket money amount of $1,300 CAD.

3. Independent Applications

In our experience, some parents are more heavily involved in the applicant and placement process for their children when they are 18-years old. Our applicants need to be able to apply and work independently of any parental input. This includes having their own personal email address. We will not respond to questions from parents of applicants, and recommend instead that they refer to our Assurance for Parents page.

We carefully consider each and every applicant that takes the time to complete our pre-application, but we hope that the above goes some way to explaining why the application process for 18-year olds can be a bit more competitive, and the differences involved.

If you have any follow-up questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.