The Summer Literacy Camps program began in 2005 as a pilot partnership between the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Hon. James Bartleman—a member of the Mnjikaning First Nation—and five fly-in First Nations in northern Ontario. Since then, this successful program has expanded to over 100 communities and serves thousands of Indigenous children and youth across the country.
The program supports supports First Nation, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) student success by complementing the formal education system and responding to a need for quality supports in rural, remote, and isolated communities, especially during the summer. The camps provide a safe and supportive environment, with activities to help prevent summer learning loss—the decline in student performance between school years—and promote a love of reading and learning so that students return to school better prepared to learn and succeed.