Toronto has an amazing choice of summer camps for all ages, tastes, gender, and needs.  Whether it is a summer day camp or a traditional summer camp, figuring out the value of that camp is a difficult if not impossible task.

So how do you measure the value of a summer camp?

Let’s assume that you want to measure how happy the participant is. It would be fair to say that the more happy the participant of the camp, the value of the camp goes up. So what does happy look like? Does happy mean the same thing to everyone? Are there other factors that influence one’s happiness? To be sure, there are plenty of factors that drive the happiness quotient and this makes it hard to determine the value of the summer program.

However, there is one sure way to measure value of a summer program is by what you pay. We’ve sampled a number of pre-college summer intensive programs for teenagers that are run by top-tier art and design schools in the US. We’ve looked at all the costs associated with attending the program without adult supervision or attendance. We also determined the number of instructional hours a student will have when they attend these programs and here is what we found (numbers have been rounded to the tens).

Below is a comparison chart of Summer Design Lab (SDL) and US pre-college summer programs:

Meal Plan-Incl.740500Incl.
Misc Fees--300-300
Local Transportation-N/AN/AN/AN/A
Health Insurance*-150150150150
Return Flight*-600600600600
Art Supplies*Incl.200200200200
Total in USD8550619051506250
Total in CAD**TBD:20169490687057206940
Number of Weeks35425
Instructional hours10913011470125
Cost per hourTBD73608255

*Fees are estimated. Flights originating from Toronto Pearson. **Exchange Rate 1 USD = 1.11 CAD. Fees are rounded to nearest 10.

By examining the cost on a per hour basis, you will see that Summer Design Lab offers tremendous value.

At the rate of $14 per hour, this is less than the cost of a private tutor coming to your home.

Even if you were to remove the room and board, transportation and other miscellaneous costs, Summer Design Lab still comes out ahead.

Value is more than money.

At Summer Design Lab, we believe the quality of instruction we offer is on par with schools in the US.  We also have the benefit of having professors from Canadian and US post-secondary institutions who will provide a unique perspective on design and design thinking.  The professors that we hire not only currently teach at post-secondary level but are also practicing their craft in the real world.  In addition, we will have various design professionals coming in to speak with you to give you real world perspective and expectations.

One other differentiating aspect of our program is what we teach.  There are many schools that focus on a specific subject such as illustration or architecture.  Our program teaches a life skill called design thinking. Design thinking is a skill that is transferable across various disciplines. Whether you decide to pursue architecture, fashion design, industrial design or even business and engineering, these critical skills will help you flourish in both your academic and professional career.

We strongly believe that these benefits combined with the dollar value is a great investment in your future success.

We hope that you will join us this summer!

Spaces are limited. Scholarships are available.

Register Now!