Our Building Youth Leadership Development (BYLD) gives young people aged 12 to 15 the opportunity to learn leadership skills, responsibility and self-confidence.

On this page:

  1. Register for BYLD
  2. Program information
  3. What you’ll learn
  4. Leisure access

Register for BYLD

Registration for BYLD is open now.

Register for BYLD:

Registration is open until May 13, 2022. Limited spots are available, so register early.

Age

The summer 2022 BYLD program is open to those born in 2007 to 2010 (12 to 15 years old).

Refunds

Please note: full refunds are available 7+ days prior to start date.

Questions

If you have questions:

Program information

The BYLD program has two components:

Orientation and training

Dates: June 4, 5, 11, 12 and 18 (inclusive, all weekends)

Time: 1 to 4 p.m.

Location: to be determined

We ask all new and returning BYLD participants to attend all five dates listed above to qualify for a summer hands-on learning placement at one of our neighbourhood camps.

During these sessions, we'll cover topics including:

  • communication
  • teamwork
  • leadership
  • facilitating activities
  • much more

Training is a mandatory part of the program. BYLD participants will not be able to complete their placement if they miss training. There are no make-up dates.

Hands-on learning placement

After completing orientation and training, BYLD participants are offered a hands-on learning placement at a City of Kitchener neighbourhood camp site for two consecutive weeks. This placement allows them to put their training into action.

At orientation, we'll ask participants to fill out a placement preference request form that includes their preferred:

  • placement locations (see accordion below for a list of placement locations)
  • placement weeks (we ask for as much availability as possible as there are 20 placement spots available each week)

Open the accordions below to learn more about placement weeks and locations.

Placement locations

There are placement sites available throughout Kitchener at our different day camp locations. We try our best to place BYLD participants at a location near their home to make transportation easier.

We cannot guarantee your first choice of location, but we will try our best!

Placements will be at our full day camps. These camps offer activities appropriate for children who have completed junior kindergarten through to grade 6 (4-11 years of age). BYLD participants have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills while spending a full day working with the program staff in our programs.

Locations include:
Placement weeks
Placements will happen between July 4 and August 19, 2022.

What you’ll learn

Through BYLD, you can learn:

  • leadership skills
  • communication
  • program planning
  • team-building skills
  • disability awareness
  • conflict resolution skills
  • inclusion

Earn your high school community service hours through the BYLD program. Employers look for programs like BYLD on resumes when hiring young people.

Leisure access

Visit our leisure access page to apply for lower registration fees. Our goal is to make city-run programs accessible to everyone.