Join Now – Preferred Vendors

The OCA supports, encourages and recommends our Preferred Vendors to all of our Members over other suppliers.

Becoming a Preferred Vendor opens the door to possible partnerships with over 450 Accredited Camps and Outdoor Education Centres in Ontario!

Preferred Vendor Membership Benefits

Our Members know that our Preferred Vendors are vetted.  That means our Members and the general public know they can trust your product/service and will look to you first to fill their needs for their camp and/or outdoor education programs!

Marketing

Our Preferred Vendors receive the following Marketing benefits. Your business will:

• Receive an OCA brand kit which includes our OCA Preferred Vendor logo for use on your website (for the duration of your membership).
• Be permitted use of the Camp and Outdoor Education Centre Contact List (we have 450+ camps and outdoor education centres) as well as the Preferred Vendor Contact List, for the duration of your membership. This list provides annually updated information about potential customers – the OCA is growing, and so is the customer base!
• Be listed publicly on our website by category, making it even easier for a potential customer to find you!
• Be listed in our Camps Guide, distributed widely to parents, organizations, and camps!
• Receive the exclusive opportunity to advertise with OCA.
• Have access to Early Bird and discounted Member Rates for the Exhibit Hall at our annual conference, OCA Connects! This is the BIGGEST Camp Industry Trade Show in Canada, with more than 600 qualified delegates with purchasing power and/or influence. Due to COVID-19, our traditional format for our conference is on hold.

Government Lobbying

The OCA is here to support our Members. Our Preferred Vendors and the products and services they provide are instrumental to the success of the camps industry – we know that COVID-19 has adversely impacted your business.

Our Government Relations Committee and Board of Directors are working on behalf of the Canadian camps industry for the financial security of our camps, outdoor education providers, and Preferred Vendors. Through a proposed Sustainability Fund and amendments to current non-applicable financial support programs, they are working to #savecanadiancamps.

Our past successes include:

• Establishing a minimum wage exemption for full-time students working at camp
• Creating the Camp Marine Module with Transport Canada for an MTRB Exemption
• Working with Service Canada to assist foreign workers and campers in coming to Canadian camps and outdoor education centres

Support

• The Preferred Vendors Committee meets a few times each year to discuss current industry trends, how to be successful in marketing to camps and outdoor education providers, Exhibit Hall tips from the pros, and to take your feedback so Preferred Vendors get the most out of their membership!
• Last year, for the very first time, we released the Understanding Camps document. We spoke with successful Preferred Vendors and Camp Directors at different stages of their careers about their experiences to help you Understand Camp. This document is only available to our Preferred Vendors – Join Now!
• Your membership will give you exclusive access to the OCA Weekly, our weekly newsletter with industry news, resources, and updates. Up to 15 of your staff can subscribe to our emails, so your whole team can stay up-to-date with industry news!

Mentoring

The camps industry is unique – we are a community of like-minded people who want to ensure that the Canadian tradition of camp and outdoor education is available, accessible, and safe for everyone. In this spirit, the OCA provides mentorship connections for Preferred Vendors.

OCA Events

The OCA team wants to make sure all our Members and our community are safe during the pandemic, and as such, we will be taking a measured and practical approach to OCA events.

OCA delivers a variety of educational workshops to provide professional development and networking opportunities to our Members. These events are delivered as either part of your membership, or at a discounted members-only rate, and have included events such as:

• OCA Connects, our annual conference
• Health Conference
• Campfire of Inclusion
• Staff Summit
• Sessions on topics as needed, such as Mental Health First Aid Training, the Equity and Diversity Ambassador Program, and health hot topics
• OCA Meet-Ups, Holiday Parties, and other networking events

We are continuing to support our Members through Town Halls, Webinars, Think Tanks, Coffee Hours, and other virtual sessions on a variety of topics which have included:

• Mental Health
• Online Safety
• Virtual Programming

OCA also connects its Members with relevant external professional development opportunities in the OCA Weekly.

Research

The OCA provides Members with access to research, completed by the Canadian Camping Association and the American Camp Association, providing data and trends that are important to the camps industry. The COVID-19 Task Force and OCA Board of Directors will be researching successful programs that ran in Summer 2020 to provide insight and direction for the 2021 season and beyond. We also connect researchers to camps and outdoor education providers.

Savings

Your OCA membership makes you eligible for OCA Member pricing, or free access, for OCA events!

Ready to Learn More?