National Conference 2026 - FAITHFUL

November 23-26, 2026
Canmore, AB

YOU CAN STILL REGISTER FOR PRE CONFERENCE TRAINING
Monday, November 23, 2026 from 9:00am-4:00pm

Non-Profit Board Excellence Training – Led by Clearview Training – $145 in-person, $100 online – See “Schedule” below for details. Register Here

Red Cross Psychological First Aid – Certification Course  “Caring for Others” component of the Red Cross Psychological First Aid by TNYF Training – $85 – See “Schedule” below for details. Register Here

Thriving Year Round Operations – Led by Steve Archibald, Medeba – $85 per person – See “Schedule” below for details. Register Here

 

SOLD OUT! 2026 NATIONAL CONFERENCE!

We are anticipating an incredible time of encouragement, connection, fellowship and learning!

Registration includes programming, general sessions, breakout sessions, 6 meals and any taxes.

$860.00/person – Regular Conference Price
$600.00/person – Spouse rate is a limited conference registration – includes general sessions, 6 meals and any taxes

Are you a business or ministry interested in sponsoring, exhibiting or advertising at the event? Please email exhibits@cci-canada.ca to discover all the opportunities available to you.

 

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

Registration DOES NOT include the hotel accommodations. Those will need to be booked separately using this special link:
Book your discounted room here

The group room rate is $127.00/room/night plus applicable taxes. Parking is complimentary for those staying in the hotel.

 

TRANSPORATION BETWEEN CALGARY AND THE COAST CANMORE HOTEL

Special Deal Just for You: Enjoy 20% off Banff Airporter’s comfy, reliable shuttle service which runs 11 times daily, so you can land and relax on your own schedule.
Promo Code: CCI2026
Valid for travel dates: November 20 to 29, 2026

To book your shuttle:

    1. Head to Banff Airporter and click Book Now.
    2. Fill in your travel details.
    3. When you reach the final payment page, enter the promo code CCI2026 into the “Promo Code?” box and your 20% discount will be applied.

Please note that shuttles can fill up fast, so book at least a month in advance to guarantee availability.

 

The conference is sold out. There is still room in the Pre-Conference sessions.

Event Speakers

Mark Buchanan

Bible Teacher

Mark is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose Seminary in Calgary, Alberta. Mark began his writing career at age twelve, encouraged by his fifth-grade teacher. Now, he is the author of twelve books including most recently the David Trilogy (David: Rise, David: Reign, David: Descend), a fictional account of the life of King David, and God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul. He is a regular contributor to the Leadership Journal and Christianity Today. He and his wife Cheryl lead New Story Community, a ministry that promotes the flourishing of Indigenous women in Canada.

Michelle Cummings

Opening Keynote

Michelle Cummings, M.S., is the Big Wheel and founder of Training Wheels, a known leader in the Team Building field. She is also the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer for Personify Leadership, a Leadership Development organization. Michelle is an accomplished author and a dynamic, sought-after speaker in the areas of leadership, team-building, and experiential learning. Michelle has created a wide variety of facilitation, debriefing, and team-building activities that have collectively changed the way trainers and educators work. Michelle speaks at more than 25 local, national, and international conferences each year and authors a weekly team-building newsletter called The Spokesperson that has over 24,000 subscribers in over 100 countries.

John Friesen

Tuesday Afternoon Keynote

John has a passion to see Kingdom ministries THRIVE; not just survive. And he is keen to see families being strengthened in an era when family structure, function and relationships are increasingly difficult. Growing up with a rich cultural heritage, John was born in Mexico in the context of an Old Colony Mennonite community. John currently serves as the CEO of Muskoka Bible Centre (since 2009) and provides leadership to its vision of invigorating the Church in Canada. John also sits on various ministry boards and has spoken and taught at many conferences throughout Canada, the USA, and Latin America. He also recently chaired the 3 year, national research work that produced the Parenting Faith report (www.parentingfaith.ca) . John enjoys life with his wife, Lisa and their young adult children and one granddaughter!

Gary Hill

Wednesday Evening Keynote

Gary is so thankful to God that a school friend invited him to attend Christian holiday camps with him, and on one of those, as he was finishing his final year of school, the Holy Spirit convicted him of his sin and the righteousness found in Jesus. That camp was located on the shores of Lake Macquarie just over an hour north of Sydney in Australia and was run by a group which was then called Crusaders.  After finishing school (studying Economics/Law), God led Gary into high school teaching which he did for a few years before joining the staff of Boston Consulting Group/PCEK in Sydney. Then in 1987 Gary was employed full-time by Crusaders and charged with setting up a term-time school camping program, which involved taking school year groups on 3-5 day camps which included daily Bible teaching. In 1993 Gary was appointed Crusaders’ CEO, a position which he held until December 2025. Gary has been involved in Christian Venues Association in Australia, including several years on the NSW (state) committee and as a member of the National Board, including National Chairman for 8 years. He’s also been thankful for the opportunity to attend CCI events/member sites over the last 25 years in England, USA, Canada, South Africa and Malaysia and the Netherlands. Gary now serves as the Board Chair for CCI Worldwide. 

Schedule

November 23-26, 2026 Tentative Schedule

Monday, November 23 9:00-4:00pm Pre Conference Training 1:00-10:00pm Registration Desk 1:00-3:00pm Exhibitors Move in 3:00pm Business Exhibit Hall opens Evening Dinner on your own 7:00pm CONFERENCE BEGINS 7:00-7:45pm Regional breakouts 8:00-9:00pm Opening General Session 9:00pm Reception with Exhibitors Tuesday, November 24 7:00am-9:00pm Member Services Open 7:30-8:15am Breakfast 8:30-9:30am Bible Teaching Session 9:30am Business Exhibit Hall open (coffee available) 10:00-11:10am Breakout Session 1 11:20-12:30pm Breakout Session 2 12:30-1:30pm Lunch 1:45-2:55pm Breakout Session 3 2:55-3:30pm Coffee Break 3:30-4:30pm General Session 5:00pm Business Exhibit Hall closes 5:00pm on Visit Canmore- Dinner on your own

Wednesday, November 25 7:00am-9:00pm Member Services Open 7:30-8:15am Breakfast 8:30-9:30am Bible Teaching Session 9:30am Ministry Partners Exhibit Hall (coffee available) 10:00-11:10am Breakout Session 4 11:20-12:30pm Breakout Session 5 12:30-1:30pm Lunch 1:45-2:55pm Breakout Session 6 3:15-4:25pm Breakout Session 7 – Regional Debrief - Coffee 5:30pm Ministry Partners Exhibit Hall closes 5:30-7:00pm Dinner 7:30-9:00pm General Session Thursday, November 26 8:00am-12:00pm Member Services Open 8:30-9:30am Breakfast 10:00-11:30am Closing Session - Bible Teaching Session 11:30am Goodbye and God bless you all

Tentative Session Topics

Camp Interns - Pioneering a Program Policing Camp Policies - What we learned the hard way Hospitality and Serving Well Team Culture/Dynamics Peer to Peer Fundraising Awareness of what Government agencies (law enforcement) allows and expects Dealing with potential threats to camps and campers Mental Health Spiritual Formation for those over 50 What Fuel are you Putting in Your tank? Invitation in Scripture for Rest Board Members - What a Director Needs to Know Hospitality at Camp More than Just a Cook Camp Training Gen Z Staff Recruitment & Retention Budgets when Numbers are Hard Ministering to hurting campers/Staff When is it Time to Move on? Your Team's Spiritual Gifts Staff Management: Building in work performance accountabilities Living Under a Microscope - Camp Kids Making organizations efficient and effective Building trust and authenticity for your camp Personal spiritual life growth as ministry leaders/disciple makers The spirituality of fundraising Staying Relevant to youth in today’s society Discipleship Staff Devotions Fostering spiritual growth in summer staff Staff Discipline Leadership development Engaging Staff for ministry Board Management Staying connected year-round Conservation and stewardship - septic tanks, humanure, composting Christian camping is powerful - an analytical overview Going Solar Balancing Seasonal Community Promoting Camp Are you Captain or Coach? Grant Writing Affinity Group: Executive Directors (based on budgets) Affinity Group: New Directors Meet with Experienced Directors Affinity Group: Program (divided into key roles) Affinity Group: Hospitality, Housekeeping Affinity Group: Kitchen Affinity Group: Finance Affinity Group: Maintenance and Facilities Affinity Group: Office/Registrar/Admin

Pre Conference Session - Monday 9:00am-4:00pm

Non-Profit Board Excellence Training

Led virtually by Clearview Training – $145 in-person, $100 online More details and Registration Many people who join camp boards have a real passion for the ministry, but no prior experience or training in effective Board Governance. They often pick up bad habits and then pass these on to others. This training helps stop this cycle in its tracks and injects strength and professionalism into the Board’s practices. CCI/Canada has hosted 2 Pre-Conference Board Training sessions at our 2022 & 2024 national conferences, with over 50 camps participating. The feedback was incredible! Who Should Attend? - Anyone serving on a non-profit board or considering serving on a board. - Executive Directors or CEOs of non-profit boards. - Organizational staff – to fully understand the role the Board plays in the organization. How will the Training Work? Register to attend in person or online (over Zoom). If you are in-person and others from your camp are online, come with a laptop so you can discuss together over Zoom. Camps that have only one person attending will be combined with other camps for discussions. More details and Registration

Red Cross Psychological First Aid - Certification Course: “Caring for Others” component of the Red Cross Psychological First Aid

by TNYF Training – $85 – More details and Registration Learn how to recognize signs of distress and offer practical support without judgment or assumptions. This course assists learners in developing a personal understanding of the effects of stress, loss, trauma and grief on others. Learners will be introduced to the Red Cross Look, Listen, Link, Live model and will learn how to support others to cope with the effects of various types of stress. The course includes: Stress / Grief / Loss and how they affect an individual / family / communities mental wellbeing as many (not all) mental health struggles relate back to loss of some kind. It covers how we help them recognize their personal supports, build resiliency, access further supports where needed. More details and Registration

Thriving Year Round Operations

led by Steve Archibald, Medeba – $85 More details and Registration Is your year-round ministry thriving—or simply surviving? Operating a Christian camp or conference centre year-round can be an exciting opportunity to expand your ministry, reach more people, and do more Kingdom work. But the reality of year-round operations can also be challenging. Staffing, programming, facility use, finances, marketing, maintenance, and changing guest expectations can quickly turn an exciting vision into an exhausting struggle. So how do you move from surviving to thriving? This Head Start Seminar will explore the key components of a healthy, sustainable year-round Christian Camping & Conference Ministry. Together, we will look honestly at the challenges and opportunities of year-round operations and explore practical principles, strategies, ideas, and evaluation metrics that can help you build a ministry that thrives. You will explore: · What makes a year-round ministry healthy and sustainable · The key operational and ministry challenges of going year-round · How to evaluate whether your year-round ministry is actually working · Practical strategies for staffing, facilities, programming, finances, and guest development · Metrics that can help you measure progress and make better decisions · Ideas and approaches you can take home and begin implementing Who Should Attend? Directors and year-round ministry coordinators of Christian camps and conference centres who: · are considering moving to year-round operations; · have recently begun operating year-round; or · are already operating year-round but want to move from surviving to thriving. Come prepared to ask questions, challenge assumptions, share your experiences, and take home practical ideas for helping your year-round ministry thrive. More details and Registration

Sponsors

Join us at this event!

When: November 23-26, 2026
Where: Canmore, AB

CCI members receive a discount on national and provincial event tickets!