Okanagan pools desperate for lifeguards
Shortage was ‘dire’ even before pandemic
Operating hours have been reduced for the summer at Penticton’s only public pool amid a shortage of lifeguards that’s being felt right across the Okanagan and beyond.
As of July 4, the Penticton Community Centre pool is closed on Friday nights and Saturdays due purely to a lack of help.
In the years leading up to the pandemic, the pool staff consisted of as many as four full-time lifeguard/supervisors, 18 part-time lifeguards and 17 casual lifeguards, according to Kerry Wagner, recreation operations supervisor for the City of Penticton.
At present, the pool staff still has four fulltime lifeguard/supervisors, but just seven part-timers and two casuals – two-thirds fewer people than before.
Wagner said some lifeguards left the profession during the pandemic, when pools were closed or had limited capacity, but there are many other factors at play, such as housing affordability and child-care availability, that are contributing to worker shortages in many sectors.
She also acknowledged that lifeguard wages likely haven’t risen enough in recent years to compete with other lines of work that require less training and don’t involve the same high level of responsibility.
As part of its effort to find new talent, the city has lifted the starting wage for permanent part-time lifeguards to $24 per hour – well above the $19 per hour that’s set out in the municipal workers’ collective agreement.
Wagner’s team also runs lifeguard training sessions – as required and as instructors are available – and is beating the bushes in the swim community to find prospective applicants for the job.
People can begin training as a lifeguard when they’re 15, but must be 16 to work. Training consists of 100 hours of instruction spread over four courses, and a high level of swimming proficiency is required.
Wagner said the lifeguard shortage, which was “dire” even before the pandemic, has also reduced the availability of instructors for swim lessons, and with fall just around the corner she’s unsure what the pool schedule will look like once colder weather sets in.
“Its not easy, but we’re working on it. We realize how important it is and we’re working on multiple levels to try to figure it out,” she said.
Wagner’s peer up the highway is doing the same.
Tyler Stringer, aquatic and fitness co-ordinator for the City of Kelowna, said he had approximately 30 lifeguards on staff preCOVID at the pool at Parkinson Recreation Centre, but is now down to around 25.
To help counter the decline, the city has started hiring lifeguards with relatively less experience than some in the past and ramped up inhouse training, said Stringer, who has also had an open job posting for lifeguards since the start of the year.
Outside of the Okanagan, the municipality of West Vancouver recently introduced a free lifeguard training program, which can otherwise cost $1,000 and take up to two years to complete.
The community's water facilities haven't been able to fully open for the past few months, closing early on Saturdays and any other day that staff can't come in.
Before the pandemic, West Vancouver typically had 100 lifeguards going into the summer, but only had 32 this year at the start of their recruitment for the season.
Meanwhile, the City of Toronto needs about 1,100 lifeguards to supervise its indoor and outdoor pool facilities, but as of July 1 only had 750 confirmed.