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Toronto mother Debbie McNair has clipped her family's travel budget, scaled back on cleaning help, even cut the dog walker's hours. But recessionary times will not keep her three sons -- 8, 15 and 17 - and 12-year-old daughter from summer camp this year.

After talking it over with her husband and circle of friends, Ms. McNair says she came to the conclusion that camp did not fall into the luxury category. Instead, she decided the lessons it has taught her kids, especially the boys, about confidence and independence are necessities she and her banker husband need to budget around.

"They get so much out of camp that I can't provide," says the full-time mom. "I see a huge benefit when they come home. To me, it's almost as important as going to school."

Despite the potentially hefty price tag, summer camp appears to be recession proof. Ms. McNair says even friends who have lost jobs are still finding a way to keep the tradition a part of their children's lives. As a result, many camp directors are reporting that their sessions and waiting lists have filled up earlier than usual.

"We're in great shape," says David Latimer, the director of Kilcoo Camp in Haliburton, Ont., which is where the McNair boys go. Kilcoo's June and July sessions of about 220 campers each are just about fully booked, with a few spots left in August.

But that doesn't mean Mr. Latimer didn't hustle. He says that while his camp has about a 90 per cent return rate, the state of the economy did spur him into a few pre-emptive measures, such as designating more cabins for shorter, two-week stays (at $1,800; a full month runs to $3,350). He also spent more time staging small, in-home slide shows for prospective campers' families.

Kim Smith, director of the all-girls Camp Tanamakoon in Ontario's Algonquin Park, says he spent slightly more this year on print advertising and refined his camp's online registration process.

Still, he credits his higher-than-usual registration rate to the premium parents place on enriching their kids.

"We have always benefited as an industry [from the fact] that parents will step up if it's something they want for their children, whether it's summer camp or swimming lessons or whatever it is," he says.

Scott Bayley, executive director of Camp Qwanoes, a Christian adventure camp on Vancouver Island, has also seen his registrations increase over last year. Kids visiting Qwanoes spend a week wakeboarding, swimming, skateboarding and dangling from trees on challenge courses.

Mr. Bayley suspects some families who have taken a financial hit are finding creative measures to manage financially. Grandparents may be chipping in for the $425 to $525 weekly fees, he says. "Or maybe kids are taking on an extra newspaper route during the year to pay for camp."

There are certainly some in the industry who aren't as booked as they like, but they say that in about a month the wait-and-see crowd will likely take the plunge.

Henri Audet, the executive director of Camp Kirk, a special-needs camp in Kirkfield, Ont., says he's seeing a slower enrolment process than in previous years. But he's optimistic that some parents are busy figuring out their budgets and will ultimately decide to send their kids to his camp, which serves boys and girls with various learning disabilities and delays, attention deficit disorder and some autism spectrum disorders.

"Our kids all have special needs, and so camp for many of these kids is not a luxury but a necessity," he says.

Those who are nearly fully booked are not immune from a little anxiety, either. Justin Gerson, the director of Canadian Adventure Camp in Temagami, Ont., says he'll breathe easier after his camp's mid-April cancellation deadline. Enrolment at the camp, which specializes in wakeboarding, gymnastics and trampoline, is at the same level as it was this time last year and is nearing its 140-camper capacity.

"Our fingers are crossed. We're near the deadline and we're not seeing anything out of the norm."

Although Ms. McNair admits her kids have an excellent back-up - the family's summer cottage, where she could spend most of the season with them - she says she would still rather scrimp than cancel her kids' camp plans.

"It's not always about you. It's about what makes them thrive," she says.