Springside, Sask. –

Springside Resource Centre has cut back its eight week summer program to one week after not being selected for the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) wage subsidy.

“We’re totally reliant on the Canada Summer Jobs grant or other grants that we’re aware of to apply for,” expressed Mike Anderson, board chair of Springside Resource Centre.

Last summer, the not-for-profit organization received the CSJ grant and was able to hire a full-time summer student which allowed the centre to put on themed summer camps and daily activities for the whole season.

However, due to not receiving the funding this year, the organization is putting on weekly programs and one week of summer camp instead.

“This summer it’s all about what we have for volunteers for bandwidth and what they can give to the centre,” Anderson explained.

“Last year, we were able to hire a summer worker so we had daily programs in the morning for the young kids, we had afternoon activities for middle elementary school (aged) kids, and we had regular youth drop-in programs.”

According to the Government of Canada’s website, the CSJ grant provides wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations to encourage quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30.

When asked for comments about how the program determines which organizations receive funding, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) told CTV News a spokesperson was not available.

“Last summer, we loved that they had programming for the kids available,” Chelsea Peters said, a parent whose two sons attend the summer camp and a parent group program.

“Every week was a different theme, the kids were so excited to look on the board right in front of the resource centre to see what the theme would be next week. They had a wonderful girl who led the groups. She had crafts and plans, stories, and games, all kinds of outside games all for the kids.”

Based on attending the “Mom and Todds” parent group with her children, Peters said the resource centre serves as a community hub for families.

“It really introduced us to members in the community, moms in the community that I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to know,” Peters said.

“It’s such a relaxing environment. They’ve got coffee for the moms and all sorts of stations for the kids so the moms are able to sit and visit. There’s sensory bins set up, play-dough, and blocks, all sorts of crafts that we don’t have at home. That’s been really important for our family to have this and get to know members of the community.”

Anderson said because the centre is a not-for-profit, the organization heavily relies on government grants and fundraising efforts to run its programming.

“As far as the program and events goes, are grant funded,” he explained.

“Any of our regular fundraising goes towards our operation expenses with the building and stuff, but when it comes to being able to do summer programs the ability to run consistently, and a lot of them, are reliant on Canada Summer Jobs grant.”

Springside is located about 25 kilometres northwest of Yorkton, and has a population of roughly 500 people.