Our Answers

Give us some idea as to who can join scouting.

All youth (male or female), ages 5-7 Beavers, 8-10 Cubs, 11-14 Scouts, 15-17 Venturers, adults 18-26 Rovers, and adults 18+ Section Leaders, are welcome to join the Scouting Movement.

What is Scouts Canada's Mission Statement, the principles of Scouting and what Methods and Practices does Scouting use?

All of these questions are best answered on our Mission page.

Some of us know nothing about Scouting. Tell us some of the background.

Scouting all started with Lord Robert Baden-Powell, a British Army Officer who served in South Africa during the Boer War. During the war he had discovered that boys could be relied upon for things like delivering messages, and "scouting" around making detailed observations to see what the enemy was up to. A training manual he had used with his soldiers he later adapted for use with boys. After this "Scouting for Boys" was published, and the first camp was held in 1907, the Scouting movement soon began to spread across the world, taking on a life of its own without much direct effort from the Founder. Scouting was brought to Canada in 1908.

Scouting is as much about character and personal development as it is about learning scoutcraft and outdoor skills. Since November 1998 it has been completely co-educational, offering the same opportunities to female and male members, at all levels from Beavers (5 to 7 years of age) to Rovers (18 to 26). The necessary privacy and sensitivity required to accommodate both genders has not proved difficult to achieve; public schools have been at it for years.

2007 marks the 100th anniversary of Scouting worldwide and we are holding several Centenial activies in celebration.

Give us an idea about what our children/youth will be doing.

Each youth group (in Scouting we call each youth group a "Section" and they include Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, and Rovers) hold a weekly meeting, lasting from one to two hours depending on the age group, as well as outdoor activities whenever possible. These can include field trips, tours, camping, and hiking. Even Beavers can expect to have at least one adventuresome outing during the year.

What are the direct costs in time, and monetary expense?

Direct costs include annual registration fee (which provides insurance coverage), uniform purchase (approximate once every three years), occasional fees for special activities to cover expenses, and some personal camping equipment like a sleeping bag and a backpack.

What are the fees?

Registration fees are subject to annual increases. For the up-to-date information, watch our
Join Us page.

What are the weekly dues?

These vary from Section to Section, so you must ask the leaders. Dues are used to pay for program materials and special activities that the youth want to participate in.

What needs to be purchased for a uniform?

The following items need to be purchased as part of the uniform:

- Beavers uniform consists of the vest and hat. An optional t-shirt or pullover is also available
- Cub uniform consist of a shirt, sash (red with yellow trim), and Cub Handbook
- Scout uniform consist of a shirt, sash (red with green trim), and Scout Handbook
- Venturers and Rovers decide which style of uniform to purchase.
- Scout Leader uniform consists of a shirt and applicable Leaders Handbook

All youth and leaders will be provided with a neckerchief, woggle, and badges at no additional cost. Leaders will get reimbursed the cost of their shirt and leader handbook, so keep your receipt.

In any case, the total cost should not exceed about $35 to $40 per youth. For actual prices per item, please contact the NS Scouts Shop. As well please consult the Scout Shop Catalogue.

What do you do at a meeting?

A regular meeting in the regular meeting room will usually include a beginning routine or ceremony, and a variety of activities that include learning new skills, crafts, games and badge work. Sometimes tours are conducted in lieu of meetings to give the youth a chance to discover what our community has to offer. Check out Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, and Rovers to find out more about each youth program.

Have the forms requirements changed this year?

Scouts Canada announced changes to the forms starting September 1st, 2006. Parents need only complete an application form for their youngster, which includes the health information, volunteer availability, emergency notification, and privacy and photo release agreements. Parents are required to ensure that the leader has up-to-date information on that form.

Scout Leaders are required to provide you with information for every activity that is not held at the normal meeting place, but individual permission forms only need to be signed for those activities that involve a high degree of risk or last more than three nights in length. See Great News About Forms for more details.

Are forms available on-line?

Some forms are available on-line, as you can see by visiting the link on the Scouts Canada. On-line registration is not yet available, although discussions are underway to make it a reality someday.

What leader-youth ratios are observed?

For meetings, the ratio is 1:5 for Beavers, and 1:6 for sections above Beavers. For category 2 and 3 activities, the ratio is higher.

What kind of screening and training is available for leaders and parent volunteers?

Before an adult can register to be a Scouter (a leader or a Group Committee member) the individual must be interviewed by a pair of interviewers, undergo a personal references check to assess suitablility to work with youth, must obtain a Police Record Check (PRC), and get approval from the Council Executive Director. Once approved, the new leader will then begin to serve a three-month probation. We encourage and require leaders attend the "Woodbadge One" course within the first 12 months of being a Scouter. More information is available at "Who me?" which describes this process.

What is the difference between leaders, parent volunteers, and parent helpers?

Leaders and parent volunteers are registered members of Scouts Canada. Parent Helpers are not registered members of Scouts Canada. Both leaders and parent volunteers will have direct contact with youth and are responsible for activities beyond what would be expected of a parent helper. Leaders and parent volunteers must undergo the initial screening process. Leaders and parent volunteers are covered by Scouts Canada insurence when participating in Scouting activities.

Leaders are responsible for planning and running activities and are expected to undergo training and practical assessments. They are also expected to wear a uniform to Scouting activities.

Parent Volunteers are usually employed to assist with the administrative/logistical support to running camps, tours, special events, and regular meetings. They can be responsible for running specific badge activities, crafts, etc. Parent volunteers can attend training but are not expected to do so. Parent volunteers do not wear a uniform.

Parent Helper are parents who are asked to lend a helping hand for a specific activity (regular meeting, tour or non-camp activity). There must always be a minimum number of registered adults in attendance to over-see parent helpers. Parent helpers are not covered by Scouts Canada insurance.

Please refer to Being a volunteer and Who ... me for additional information.

What kinds of controls are there in place to ensure that all activities will be completely safe for the youth, some of whom are merely children?

The next time you read in the paper about someone who got lost in the woods, or went out boating in bad weather and had a near tragedy, you are witnessing what happens when people don’t know how to evaluate the risks, and probably didn’t have proper training to begin with.

What we in Scouting do is to separate the risk and danger inherent in an activity from the excitement and enjoyment it is supposed to provide. We achieve this, first of all, by doing an adequate amount of training before the activity, and then provide supervision during the activity, so that eventually what we end up with are experienced youth and young adults, who know what the dangers are and won't take unnecessary risks. Scouters (leaders) undergo training during Woodbadge One to ensure that they can properly assess the risk and take necessary steps to mitigate those risks.

Scouts Canada specifies policies and procedures that must be followed when organizing and conducting activities. The focus is to ensure that the right people get to the right place at the right time with the right equipment. Outdoor Activity policies and procedures specify what kind of supervision is needed for the many acceptable and popular Scouting activities. Those policies also contains a list of risky activities that are not appropriate for Scouting. Our procedures are ultimately dictated by the realities of the insurance industry and by legal ramifications in our increasingly litigious society.

What forms must leaders fill out for activities?

Here is a table indicating the correct forms to be filled out for any particular type of activity.

Activities are categorized as:

• Category 1 (Low Risk) - these are normal tours and fun activities close to the regular meeting place.
• Category 2 (Moderate Risk) - normall hikes, camping, outdoor activities, swimming, sports, biking, etc that involve moderate level of risk. Camping that is less than 2 nights falls into this category.
• Category 3 (High Risk) - camping and outdoor activities that are 3 nights or longer, trips out of the country, and high risk activities of shorter duration like white water rafting, rock climbing, etc.

But they still won't be completely safe. There are still risks!

Now that we are living in the twenty-first century, the dangers the world poses for us have not disappeared; they have merely moved from where the early settler, the Prairie farmer and the deep-sea fisherman encountered them to where we now find them - in our cities, on our highways, and on our commercial airlines. That’s why we continue to street-proof our children, and lock our cars and our houses at night. The only thing that will ultimately defeat us is an unrealistic belief that we can ever be totally free from danger and risk. We won’t be free of danger any more than we can ensure our continued good health simply by having eradicated many of the bad diseases of the world.

What Scouting attempts to do is to ensure a link from our children/youth to the outdoors, and to society, while providing challenging supervised activities that teach skills, mold character, and produce citizens.