This is a large video file and although lengthy to download, it is well worth a view for those seriously interested in what this program is all about. By viewing this video, you gain a deeper understanding of life as an Ontario Ranger through first hand testimonials on the work, recreation, relationships and overall life experience this program offers.
NOTE: This is a large file (86MB , Length - approx. 9 min.). For best playback please allow the file to completely download before playing. There is a progress bar located left of the volume control. When the download is complete click on the small arrow on the left side to play.
| Voice Over / Audio - (Script) | Text on Screen |
|---|---|
| Will you be turning 17 years old this year? Like working in the outdoors? Do you want to make a difference this summer? | Ontario Ranger Program. |
| The Ontario Ranger Program is an 8-week job program that aims to provide participants with a unique combination of work, learning and life experiences. | |
| Rangers work for 8 weeks. | |
| Rangers spend their summer at one of our camp locations across the Province. You will live in cabins, bunk houses or mobile trailers. Meals are prepared daily, but you will pack your own lunch for work each day. | |
| Camps are either all female or all male, with 22 to 24 rangers at each camp. | You will live in a ranger camp. |
| Separate female & male camps. | |
| Camp supervisors are in charge of and responsible for the camp and all activities. | |
| Activities are supervised. | |
| Male and female bilingual camps are available for a limited number of students. | |
| Bilingual camps are available. | |
| A summer of hard work has never been this rewarding. | |
| Ontario Rangers learn real-world skills that they can carry through their lives and careers, long after the summer has ended. | Learn real-world skills! |
| GIRL: There are a lot of girls that were pretty quiet and you know would keep to themselves at night…and….. over the summer you just see them slowly but surely just kind of like blossom into these girls that sing their heart out while working. There’s definitely one solid group. | |
| BOY: I didn’t know what to expect coming here. But almost immediately it felt like home and it was a real welcoming environment. | |
| GIRL: My brothers also did it, so that’s where I heard it from, my….my brothers. And but I was…. I’m really glad I’m here, cuz it’s been so fun and I love being out here. | |
| BOY: We work hard. We have lots of fun though working. We meet lots of new people. You learn good working skills. Most of all you learn a lot just about yourself. I came out here and I wanted to be a plumber…now I want to work for the Ministry. It’s, it’s been a great experience. | |
| A typical day starts with a hearty breakfast, a briefing on the day’s tasks, then it’s off the to the trail or vehicle for a day of work. | |
| Work projects may include trail maintenance, building new habitat for fish, maintaining camp sites or capturing fish for studies. | Ontario Ranger Program. |
| GIRL: We are in the midst of making a spawning bed for Walleye and Trout. We’re throwing rocks into where Walleye and Trout would likely spawn to create habitat for their eggs. | |
| Work that makes a difference! | |
| BOY: What the Rangers are doing right now is stream rehabilitation. Essentially they are just cleaning up the stream, getting debris out of it to improve water flow and facilitate fish spawning. | |
| GIRL: It’s nice to feel that you’re doing something to help the environment, but you’re also helping people with what they want to do in the environment. Like with the portage it’s nice because then you know if I ever go down that portage then I won’t have to yell about that stupid muck in the road and slide with a canoe on my back, so… | |
| BOY: We try to teach the guys just basic portage skills. They come through, they have all their gear, in their boats so we go to get moved over. Usually carry our gear with us from day to day. Uhm…. Sometimes we’ll set up a base camp and work off of that. We come on and we clean the sites. | |
| Ontario Ranger Program. | |
| Safety comes first. In fact the first week of camp is dedicated to training in a number of areas such as health and safety, WHMIS, emergency first aid, workplace discrimination and harassment prevention, flat water canoe training and safe tool handling. All projects are supervised and participants are provided with the proper safety equipment before work commences. | |
| Safety training is mandatory. | |
| At the end of the day it’s back to the camp for dinner. Rangers participate in preparing meals for the group. A good healthy meal is always welcome after a day of work in the field. | |
| After dinner and chores, it’s time to unwind. How about a refreshing evening swim in the lake? Or a fireside get together, complete with some homegrown music? | |
| BOY: You know at the campfire.…a bunch of us….we, we’re all musicians basically so uhm I play guitar, I play you know a bit of hand drum, uhm my friend plays trumpet but we just, we sit around just, we jam, we come up with new songs, we just sing, it’s really nice. We just sort of hang out together. | |
| GIRL: There’s some girls in the other cabins that, they always play pranks on like the staff. I’m never a part of them but I hear about them and there funny. So I’ll always remember that was. LOL | |
| GIRL: You all grow together cus you’re doing the same things and you’re all experiencing the same things so you come here different people and you all leave and you share something. | When the work is done…… |
| This is definitely not your average summer job. Speak to any former ranger and they’ll tell you the same thing. Being a ranger was the best time of their lives. | |
| Ontario Ranger Program. | |
| GIRL: I had a great summer when I was a ranger. I met tons of new friends from all over the province. I went home having a great time. I had a thousand ranger stories to tell everyone. | |
| BOY: The camp supervisor was a woodsman, a professional woodsmen. So I just have memories of of coming out in the morning and seeing him 30 feet up a tree. Just climbing trees all over the place. Uhmm…I particularly liked the canoe trips when I was with them or with round. I did 2 canoe trips out through Algonquin. One down the Petawawa River and one just doing campsite maintenance and I think for me that was definitely that was the highlight of my summer. I’ve been able to get incredible jobs and meeting incredible people. I just think it’s a very very valuable, valuable program. | |
| Memories of being a ranger. | |
| GIRL: I really really enjoyed the Ontario Ranger Program. It was kind of an eye opener to a lot of things that I had never been exposed to before. And it was meeting a lot of great people from all over the province which I would have never have a chance to do anywhere else. | |
| BOY: I’ve been interested in the program since I was a kid cuz my father actually was within the program for a while and kayaks in Algonquin Park. And my brother went through the program so it’s kind of like a family tradition and such a good experience for a seventeen year old. So when you’re seventeen you’re not away from home a lot so it’s like two months away from home it’s a big deal kind of thing when you’re that young and you meet so many new people and it’s just a wicked experience, you get out working the outdoors and you get to do fun things. You talk to your friends, oh what did you do this summer? I’m like oh, I got to trap fish, like net them, I got to do portage maintenance, camp site maintenance. It’s an awesome experience. | |
| GIRL: I was a seventeen year old. It was a perfect opportunity to get to be in the outdoors and actually learn about it at the same time, not just the play in it. I’m now a high school teacher so it’s been a wonderful opportunity to try and and tie what I do in the summer into the classroom during the year. | |
| BOY: My good ranger summer was an amazing summer. We did a variety of things. I did a fair bit of work in parks. That was really great. That’s actually turned out to be some of my favorite work. We’ve done some lake surveys where we go in and assess what kind of fish are in the lake and just do some lake geography. Stuff like that. | |
| WOMAN: And when you talk to the rangers of today, from you know seventies, eighties, nineties to the year 2000, they all have the same life experience that they bring back. We’ve heard a lot about the co-habitation working in teams, they learn leadership skills and then on top of that, the softer skills, they’re learning technical skills that they can bring with them if they choose to have a career in this field. And if they don’t that’s fine too because they’ve got some really good behavioral skills that they’ve learned through the program that will affect them for the rest of their life. | |
| WOMAN: At the beginning of the summer they’re going ooohhh I really don’t know if I want to be here, and by the end of the summer I can’t believe the change in the personality and I really do think that the ranger program creates leaders. | |
| You get paid to do this! | |
| Memories of being a ranger | |
| Ontario Ranger Program | |
| You can apply to the Ontario Ranger Program if you are an Ontario resident and enrolled in school. | |
| Requirements | |
| Will be 17 years old between January 1st and December 31st of the year you wish to work as a ranger. | Are an Ontario resident and enrolled in school |
| Will be 17 years old between January 1st and December 31st of the year you wish to work as a ranger. | |
| Do not turn 18 at any point during the calendar year you wish to work as a ranger. | Do not turn 18 at any point during the calendar year you wish to work as a ranger. |
| Are in good physical condition. | Are in good physical condition. |
| A health questionnaire must be completed by your family physician and sent to the youth programs office before you arrive at camp. | How to Apply |
| Download the PDF form on our website. | |
| You can get the Ontario Ranger application and reference forms through your school guidance counselor or by downloading the PDF form from our web site. | |
| www.youth.mnr.gov.on.ca | www.youth.mnr.gov.on.ca |
| Please send your application and reference form by regular mail to: | |
| How to Apply | |
| Youth Programs Office | Youth Programs Office |
| Human Resources Branch | Human Resources Branch |
| Ministry of Natural Resources | Ministry of Natural Resources |
| P.O. Box 7000 | P.O. Box 7000 |
| 300 Water Street | 300 Water Street |
| 3rd Floor, South Tower | 3rd Floor, South Tower |
| Peterborough, ON | Peterborough, ON |
| K9J 8M5 | K9J 8M5 |
| Or you can fax it to 705-755-3120 | How to Apply |
| Fax Your Application | |
| 705-755-3120 | |
| The deadline for submitting both your application and reference form is the last Friday in March each year. | |
| Can’t wait ‘til summer. | |
| Applications must be received by the last Friday in March! | |
| BOY: The ranger program is a really great experience and I think a lot of people should get into it. | |
| GIRL: The people here are awesome and you’re accepted for no matter what you are and where you come from. | |
| BOY: I was working with fast food last summer and this is a big change so, it was lots of fun. | |
| BOY: The first day, the first week in general like we were just like meeting each other you know starting to hang out, and now it’s like this is my family right now. You know, I’m really close to all of these guys here. It’s my home. | |
| GIRL: It’s an amazing experience and I’m so glad that I applied because it’s really my…. the best summer I’ve had in a very long time. | |
| Ontario Ranger | |
| Youth Employment | |
| Paid for by the government of Ontario. |
Comments? Please let us know your thoughts on our Video, and this page!
YouthPrograms.
MNR@ontario.ca
