For a Canadian campground operator evaluating booking platforms, several options come up regularly: Campspot, Newbook, Hipcamp, and Portage by Northern Stay. Some are headquartered in the United States, some in Australia, and one (Portage) is built in Canada. The right choice depends on what an operator is trying to optimize for — we cannot tell you what your priorities should be, but we can lay out the categories the platforms compete on so the trade-offs are clearer.
Below: a neutral overview drawn from each platform's own published materials. For exact pricing and feature lists, link out to each platform — the published versions are the canonical source.
The major options
Campspot
US-headquartered campground management platform with feature depth across reservations, dynamic pricing, point-of-sale, work orders, and reporting. Used by a wide range of campgrounds in North America, from independent parks to multi-property operators. Pricing is quoted by Campspot directly and varies by operator size and feature set.
Most often chosen by: mid-sized to larger operators that want a full-featured PMS and have budget for an enterprise-tier platform. Worth checking: billing currency, Canadian time-zone support coverage, and how well the feature set matches your specific workflow. Campspot publishes pricing on request — ask for a Canadian-context quote.
Newbook
Australian-origin PMS designed for hospitality and accommodation operators, including campgrounds, RV parks, and lodges. Strong fit when the property runs mixed accommodation types under one PMS. Pricing quoted directly.
Most often chosen by: larger operators with mixed accommodation types (cabins, sites, lodges) wanting a single PMS. Worth checking: Newbook's North American support coverage, billing currency, and roadmap fit for Canadian operators. Confirm specifics with their sales team.
Hipcamp
Hipcamp is a consumer-facing booking marketplace, not a property management system. It lists campgrounds and alternative stays (farms, glamping, off-grid) and earns a commission on bookings driven through the marketplace. Hipcamp does not replace a back-office operations system; many operators use Hipcamp as a discovery layer alongside a separate PMS. Commission rate is published on Hipcamp's host pages.
Most often chosen by: operators wanting consumer-facing customer acquisition through a marketplace, especially for tent or alternative-stay properties. Worth checking: calendar-sync logistics if running Hipcamp alongside another platform, and the trade-off between marketplace visibility and customer-relationship ownership.
Portage by Northern Stay
Canadian-built booking infrastructure for campgrounds. Combines a booking and payment layer, a public campground listing on northernstay.com, and an optional connection to the Northern Stay membership network. Per Northern Stay's published pricing: no monthly software fee for operators, plus a 5.9% guest service fee paid by the camper at checkout (operators keep the nightly rate, less standard payment-processing fees). Built specifically for the Canadian market and billed in CAD.
Most often chosen by: Canadian operators who want a product built in Canada, billed in CAD, with Canadian-time-zone support, and the option to plug into the Northern Stay member network. Worth checking: Portage is newer than the established US and Australian platforms; feature depth in specialized areas is still being built out. The published roadmap and current capability list are on the Portage page.
Categories that matter for the decision
| Dimension | How it differs |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Campspot (US), Newbook (Australia), Hipcamp (US), Portage (Canada). Country of origin tends to shape product priorities, time-zone support, and currency. |
| Billing currency | Portage bills in CAD. Confirm CAD vs. USD vs. AUD billing directly with each other vendor before signing. |
| Pricing model | Portage publishes its rate (no operator monthly fee + 5.9% guest service fee). Hipcamp publishes a commission-only model. Campspot and Newbook quote directly — ask for a Canadian-context quote. |
| Product role | Campspot, Newbook, and Portage are property-management platforms. Hipcamp is a consumer-facing marketplace. Many operators run an aggregator alongside a PMS. |
| Customer-relationship ownership | PMS-style platforms (Campspot, Newbook, Portage) keep the operator-customer relationship direct. Marketplace platforms (Hipcamp) mediate it. |
| Feature depth | Campspot and Newbook are the most established for full-featured PMS workflows. Portage is newer with a roadmap focused on Canadian operator needs. Confirm specific feature requirements directly. |
| Calendar sync | Most modern platforms support iCal import/export. Confirm specifics if you plan to run more than one platform. |
How to think about the choice
The right framing is to start from your park's priorities, not from a feature checklist.
If your priority is full PMS feature depth
Campspot or Newbook are the most established options. Trade-offs to confirm: pricing in your context, billing currency, and how well the feature set maps to how you actually run the day. Both will quote directly.
If your priority is consumer-facing customer acquisition
Hipcamp's marketplace model is built for that. Trade-offs to weigh: customer-relationship ownership, marketplace listing rules, and how Hipcamp fits alongside (rather than replacing) a back-office system.
If your priority is a Canadian-built option
Portage is the option built in Canada, billed in CAD, supported on Canadian time zones, with a published rate. Trade-offs to weigh: it is newer than the established US/Australian platforms, and feature depth in some specialized areas is still being built out. The current capability list is on the Portage page.
If your current platform is working well
Switching costs — data migration, calendar reconfiguration, staff retraining, in-flight bookings — are real. If your current platform serves your park, the case for switching has to clear a meaningful bar.
The honest framing
Most operators run one platform for several years before switching, if they ever do. The decision is consequential and worth making on fit rather than vendor pitch. Free trials, operator-community feedback (Canadian campground operator Facebook groups are an active forum), and direct sales-rep conversations are all useful inputs.
A note on Canadian context
Canadian operators have historically had limited Canadian-built choices in this category, with most platforms originating in the US or Australia. That has practical consequences worth noting at evaluation time: billing currency, time-zone support coverage, GST/HST/PST handling, and regulatory differences all show up differently in a platform that was built for one market and adapted to another versus one that was built for the Canadian market from the start. Whether that distinction is material for your park depends on the platform you are evaluating and what it actually delivers in Canadian context — ask the vendor specifically.
What the board is required to do for members
Canadian camping associations are non-profit corporations governed by member-elected boards. Whether incorporated federally under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) or under a provincial statute (BC Societies Act, Ontario NFP Corporations Act, Quebec Companies Act Part III, etc.), directors carry similar statutory duties to the corporation and its members. Per CNCA section 148, every director must act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the corporation, and exercise the care, diligence, and skill of a reasonably prudent person. Conflict-of-interest disclosure (CNCA ss. 141-142) is required when a director has a material interest in a transaction with the corporation. The corporation must hold annual member meetings, present financial statements (s. 161), and respond to records requests from members (s. 21).
For a member operator, that translates to a baseline of expectations: the board acts in the collective interest of the membership, conflicts are disclosed and recorded, financial reporting reaches members each year, and core corporate records are accessible on request. Provincially incorporated associations have substantially similar director duties under their respective statutes.
What is outside the board's scope
Director fiduciary duty runs to the corporation as a whole and the collective interest of members. It is not a duty to advance any single operator's commercial interests, and it does not extend to operating layers the association is not built to provide. The following are typically outside the scope of an association board:
- Booking software and payment processing — sourced from independent platform vendors
- Direct customer acquisition / camper marketing — the operator's own site, Google Business Profile, aggregators, paid search
- Operations management (calendars, dynamic pricing, dashboards) — provided by the chosen booking platform
- Tax and legal advice on a specific operator's situation — obtained from a qualified Canadian tax professional or lawyer
- Acting in any single member's commercial interest — director duty is to the collective
How to hold the board accountable
The accountability mechanisms are statutory. Members can use them; boards must respond. The administrative load on the board is part of the design: a member-funded organization with member governance answers to its members, and the answers go on the corporate record.
- Request the annual financial statements. Every member is entitled to receive them before the AGM (CNCA s. 161 or provincial equivalent). Soliciting corporations — those receiving more than the prescribed threshold from public donations or government grants in a fiscal year — have additional public disclosure requirements (CNCA ss. 209-211).
- Request access to corporate records. Articles, by-laws, member-meeting minutes, and the register of directors are accessible under CNCA s. 21 or the provincial equivalent. Procedural details vary by statute and by-laws.
- Ask for a written advocacy track record. If membership materials describe advocacy as a benefit, members can request a dated list of submissions, parliamentary appearances, position papers, and named outcomes. The federal lobbyist registry (lobbycanada.gc.ca) is the canonical source for any registered federal lobbying.
- Ask for the conflict-of-interest disclosures. Under CNCA ss. 141-142, directors must disclose material interests in transactions with the corporation, recorded in the minutes. Members can ask whether disclosures and abstentions are being recorded for sponsor and preferred-vendor decisions.
- Submit a member proposal for the AGM. Under CNCA s. 175, members can submit proposals on matters of governance, policy, and strategic direction within the corporation's mandate. Procedural requirements (deadlines, signature thresholds) apply.
- Verify lobbying activity. Federal: lobbycanada.gc.ca. Provincial registries exist in BC, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and elsewhere.
- In serious cases, consult counsel about derivative actions or oppression remedies (CNCA ss. 251, 253, or provincial equivalents). These are higher-effort tools reserved for material governance concerns.