MANUAL

CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 2
A BALANCED PROGRAM
Scouting promises to offer youth a balanced program—but what exactly does this
mean? A balanced program offers a variety of experiences across the six Program Areas.
These six Program Areas are:
• Environment & Outdoors
• Leadership
• Active & Healthy Living
• Citizenship
• Creative Expression
• Beliefs & Values
Scouts Canada believes that great experiences in these six areas contribute
significantly to achieving our mission: to help develop well-rounded youth, better
prepared for success in the world. The variety of these six Program Areas has a positive
impact on the personal development of youth.
Each Section offers a range of possible adventures each year. A balanced program
means that each Program Area becomes a focus for youth experiences at least once
each season. Sections whose adventures are typically short in duration, (such as
Beaver Scouts), may have experiences in each of these Program Areas three or more
times a year. The goal of The Canadian Path is to balance program opportunities
across all six areas every year.
WHY A BALANCED PROGRAM?
A balanced program offers youth the experiences in each area every year they are in
the Scouting program.
This approach has the following advantages:
• It recognizes that youth have different areas of interest that they can explore
each year.
• It recognizes that youth develop during their Scouting years and are able to build
on previous experiences.
• It recognizes that youth have the opportunity to join Scouting any year and still
have the chance to experience all of the Program Areas; program cycles do not run
across multiple years.
34 SCOUTER MANUAL—A SCOUTER’S GUIDE TO THE CANADIAN PATH SCOUTER MANUAL—A SCOUTER’S GUIDE TO THE CANADIAN PATH 35