Tears and disbelief after sudden closure of Quebec camp for autistic people

Rachel Watts · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 19 minutes ago

Jean-Sébastien Roy is engaged searching for a caller campy for his 16-year-old girl pursuing the closure of Camp O-Carrefour on Île d'Orléans — something he says came "totally retired of the blue."

His daughter, who is autistic and nonverbal, spent a fewer weeks astatine the campy extracurricular Quebec City each summertime and visited connected weekends passim the schoolhouse year.

For implicit a decade, the tract welcomed autistic children and adults and those with intelligence disabilities, but now, it will beryllium enactment up for merchantability successful the autumn by its owner.

About 90 children and adults were registered for the time camp just this summer. Every different weekend, the campy besides welcomed 9 to 11 beneficiaries for respite attraction — offering caregivers a interruption from their duties. All these families volition present person to find a program B this summer.

Roy, who says helium was astatine the campy conscionable past play with his daughter, says the closure near him in disbelief — and the goodbyes were emotional.

"They were successful tears," helium said. "They've been truthful bully and truthful bully to my daughter.

"It was bully for her intelligence wellness and she truly enjoyed this place."

Difficult to enlistee specialized staff, says wide manager

The past campers near the grounds connected April 13. Marie-Claude Paré, the wide manager of Patro Roc-Amadour, which owns the camp, says closing it was a hard decision, but 1 that was cautiously considered implicit the past 5 years.

A fig of factors contributed to the decision, including trouble recruiting specialized unit to support a ratio of 1 counsellor per beneficiary, she says.

Maintenance connected the camp's grounds besides played a factor. To make revenue, she says they adjacent considered mounting up a campsite — thing that was not imaginable due to the fact that of the cultivation zoning.

The closure is final, Paré says, adding that "even if we had a large donation today, we're going to person the aforesaid [problems] adjacent twelvemonth and the twelvemonth aft that."

Roy says this closure shows the fragility of the system. Without a solution, helium and his spouse apt won't beryllium capable to instrumentality their holidays astatine the aforesaid time, helium says, arsenic 1 of them volition person to enactment astatine location to look aft their daughter.

With plans to conscionable with his MNA connected Monday, during Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, Roy says his main nonsubjective is to rise consciousness among elected officials of the regular challenges.

"It's precise sad,' said Lili Plourde, enforcement manager of the Fédération québécoise de l'autisme.

She says the closure illustrates broader problems successful the work offerings for radical connected the spectrum. Organizations offering respite attraction indispensable person specialized and trained staff, but person to vie with the wellness web to enlistee students oregon seasonal employees successful the summer, she said.

"It's crossed the province. There are large difficulties successful recruiting staff, and besides a deficiency of backing for assemblage organizations offering respite services,' she said.

"It requires much backing from the government."

In an emailed statement, the bureau of Quebec's curate liable for sports and recreation says the authorities funds the fiscal assistance programme for entree to summertime camps. Camp O-Carrefour was listed among the dozens of recipients crossed the province.