A Culture of Safety

A Safe Scouting Experience

As Canada’s largest youth organization, Scouts Canada places great importance on creating a fun and safe environment for our members. By embedding safety in everything we do, we create a culture of safety supported by comprehensive policies, resources and guidelines for all Scouting activities.

Our Scouters play a key role in providing a safe and enriching environment for youth, which is why Scouts Canada has a comprehensive screening and training process. We ensure our volunteers are prepared to guide and care for Scouting youth. Scouts Canada’s screening policy includes a Police Records Check, a screening interview and three character references.

Youth Protection

Respect in Sport

In 2017–2018, Scouts Canada adopted Respect in Sport for Activity Leaders Training. This training helps Scouters promote safety in all aspects of life by providing them with the tools needed to recognize and act when Scouting youth are faced with abuse, bullying, discrimination or harassment. With over 20,000 Scouters certified this past year, Scouts Canada is in a position to improve child and youth safety nationwide.

Hear more about Respect In Sport training from founder, Sheldon Kennedy. →

The 2017–2018 Scouting Year also saw Scouts Canada take a leadership role in youth protection, bringing together over 20 youth-serving organizations from across Canada to discuss best practices and exchange ideas to improve youth safety. Scouts Canada was able to share our experience of building a dedicated team and enhancing existing polices and procedures to provide more sophisticated levels of protection for children.

Additionally, we hosted and sponsored specialists from this group for two days of intensive training for staff that manage child safety concerns and allegations of abuse. We are deeply committed to showing leadership in the area of child and youth safety, and are dedicated to doing all we can to help make Canada safer for our children and youth.

Be Prepared

Through Scouting, youth have the opportunity to master essential outdoor skills and learn how to prioritize safety in all outdoor activities. Scouts Canada supports safe Scouting adventures through monthly safety tips, online campaigns and safe Scouting assessment tools — like the Safe Scouting Assessment pocket card.

This handy resource helps Scouters ensure safety is thoughtfully incorporated in the Plan-Do-Review cycle in all activities. Additionally, this resource includes pertinent information on who to contact in case of an emergency.

Online campaigns are another way our members are encouraged to foster a culture of safety. May 2018 saw us launch an online campaign during Emergency Preparedness week that garnered a reach of almost 30,000 people through social media posts and Scouting Life articles written by youth.

At Scouts, we pride ourselves on offering safe and high-quality outdoor adventure programs for children and youth. Our monthly safety tips provide members with best practices to prevent injuries when doing activities like tobogganing, hiking and canoeing.

Safety Tips