Meal times at camp aim to be a fun, community centered experience with exciting meal themes and interactive challenges. Cabin groups sign up to help “host” meals, which means arriving early to set out dishes and cutlery, put up theme decorations, presenting a grace before the meal and sweeping up the dining hall afterwards. Our experienced kitchen manager strives to create a balanced, nutritious menu of foods that kids love to eat. All meals are served hot, and served family style with many options on the table. 

The kitchen team is made up of our kitchen manager, 2 kitchen leads and 3 kitchen helpers who prepare, cook, and serve all meals onsite. Almost all menu items are entirely homemade with lots of care and attention to detail. You can feel assured that your campers will be well-fed while at camp! Accommodations and alternatives are provided for dietary restrictions and allergies.

Overnight campers receive breakfast, lunch, dinner and evening snack. 

Day campers receive morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack.

Hunger happens! Camp is busy and requires a lot of fuel! All campers have access to a fruit tower that is stocked with apples, oranges and bananas for hungry moments in between snack or meal times. Cabin leaders may make a special request for their group to do a baking activity, cooking challenge, or roast marshmallows which can usually be accommodated to the best of our ability. 

Canterbury Hills Camp is a completely peanut and tree nut free facility.

Below you’ll find a real menu from a week at camp! 

Upon registration, please indicate all allergies and dietary restrictions that your camper has, including details about the severity of their allergy or intolerance (for example, mild intolerance vs anaphylactic allergy that is airborne and requires epipen). Every meal includes options for vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free diets. If a camper diet requires further restrictions, the parent/guardian should contact our kitchen manager (canterburyhillskitchen@gmail.com or 905-648-2712 ext. 6) prior to the camp session to review their camper’s unique needs. Our kitchen manager reviews all registration forms for dietary restrictions and if necessary, a meeting or phone call will be set up with the Kitchen Manager to go over the menu and labels, as needed. Our kitchen manager will work with you to create a menu plan that is as similar to the regular menu as possible so that your child does not feel left out from what their peers are eating.

Our kitchen staff are knowledgeable about preparing food for special diets, and pay close attention to cross contamination. Efforts are done to ensure proper sanitation of allergens within the kitchen. In some situations, a family may be asked to provide alternatives for their camper that will be stored in the kitchen and served when needed. For Overnight Camp, campers with dietary restrictions will be called to the front counter to collect their meal which will be clearly labeled. Day campers with dietary restrictions will be delivered their meal to their table. Leaders will be aware of which campers in their group have allergies or special diets and will work with the campers and the kitchen manager to be aware of which foods are safe for them to eat. 
Canterbury Hills acknowledges that having a child with food sensitivities, allergies, restrictions or intolerances can be anxiety inducing for parent/guardians as well as the child and therefore we are committed to working together to come up with a plan that works best for your campers individual needs. For Day Camp, some parents/guardians of campers with dietary restrictions may choose to send a home-packed lunch as long as all items can be inspected to ensure that our Nut Policy is followed.

Each overnight cabin participates in 1 campout per week. Meals during campout include hotdogs cooked over the fire, potato chips and veggies- and of course they will have s’mores for dessert! Campout breakfast is bagels with cream cheese and/or jam. 

Both day camp and overnight cabins may choose to add a picnic “out lunch” to their schedule. This lunch includes an assemble-your-own sandwich (sliced turkey/ham, cheese, lettuce, mayo, mustard), veggies, salty snack (such as goldfish crackers), and a treat (such as a rice krispy square).

Camp meals and snacks are designed to be super child-friendly- because kids are who we feed! Still, not all meals will be appetizing to all kids- and we get that. All campers are kindly encouraged to try everything and eat the meal that is provided, or parts of the meal, even if it is not their favourite. Campers will not be forced to eat anything that they do not want to eat, but will be encouraged gently by their leaders to try new foods while at camp. If the attempts to eat the food offered has been unsuccessful, the kitchen will provide an agreeable alternative such as a more plain version of what is being served (ie. butter noodles, plain bun with butter), a simple sandwich, bowl of cereal or hot dog. Meal alternatives for picky eaters are dependent on what is available in the kitchen at that time, but our kitchen team will work with the camper to ensure that they leave the meal full and fueled up for more camp fun.

In the case of sensory processing disorders, food aversions, ARFID or extreme pickiness, parents/guardians may arrange a phone call with the Kitchen Manager (canterburyhillskitchen@gmail.com or 905-648-2712 ext. 6) to discuss the menu and what can be done to ensure that your child’s food needs are met while at camp. For Day Camp, parents/guardians of campers with extreme pickiness may choose to send a home-packed lunch as long as all items can be inspected to ensure that our Nut Policy is followed. The highest priority in these situations is ensuring that each camper gets enough food to fuel them for a high energy, fun-filled day at camp. We understand that some campers will feel more comfortable knowing the camp menu in advance, therefore upon your request we are able to provide the menu 1 week prior to your camper attending camp – with the understanding that some menu changes might arise due to food delivery delays/ ingredient shortages etc.

There is always plenty of food to go around! Most meals are served family style, while some are served buffet style. For the first round, portions are distributed evenly to everyone. Most meals are planned with 1.5 portions in mind for all campers, knowing that some campers might choose 1 portion, and that others might choose 2+ portions- depending on age and other factors. After the first round is served equally to all, more portions are available for anyone who is still hungry. Our kitchen and leaders seek to ensure that every camper eats the amount of food they need, while making an effort to mitigate food waste from excess food. Campers are encouraged to speak up and communicate with their leader to ensure that they get what they need during meals.

As all meals and snacks are provided, campers do not need to bring additional snacks with them to camp. However, some campers may wish to bring their favourite snacks or treats with them to camp to be consumed in their free time. This is permitted according to the following procedure: 

1) Personal snacks are brought in a separate bag and shown at the registration table for inspection to ensure the snacks meet our Nut Policy;

2) Snacks are given to cabin leaders who store all cabin snacks in one secure location to prevent pests and bugs from getting at them;

3) During appropriate time periods when activities are not in sessions, campers can ask cabin leaders for access to their snacks;

4) As much as possible, campers are encouraged to share their snacks with their cabin mates.

Canterbury Hills Camp attempts to create a nut free environment. Some staff and campers have severe reactions up to and including death to even trace amounts of nut products. Therefore, all food brought to camp by campers, parents/guardians, staff and visitors will be inspected before entry. All snacks found to contain or possibly contain nuts will be brought to the Camp Office or removed from site immediately. Products stored in the Camp Office will be kept in a sealed container for the duration of the camp session, and will be returned to the owner at the end of the session.

Tree nuts of concern are: Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts (filberts), macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts (pignolias), pistachio nuts and walnuts.

Our Kitchen Manager maintains an inventory of kitchen products that match the following three conditions:

• The ingredient list does not have a “may contain“ warning regarding any type of tree nut.
• There is an ingredient list that can be reviewed;
• The ingredient list does not contain any peanuts or tree nuts (from the list of concern above);