Related News

I tried the 5-4-5 walking technique for a week — and it boosted my fitness and mood

I tried the 5-4-5 walking technique for a week — and it boosted my fitness and mood

May 28, 2025
Do I need a third dose of the measles vaccine? And other common questions answered

Do I need a third dose of the measles vaccine? And other common questions answered

April 24, 2025
‘A good time to get a new car’: Tariff fears driving auto sales boost in Detroit

‘A good time to get a new car’: Tariff fears driving auto sales boost in Detroit

April 18, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Canadian news feed
  • Golf news
  • Hockey news
  • Music & Piano
  • Running & fitness
  • Skateboarding

Related News

I tried the 5-4-5 walking technique for a week — and it boosted my fitness and mood

I tried the 5-4-5 walking technique for a week — and it boosted my fitness and mood

May 28, 2025
Do I need a third dose of the measles vaccine? And other common questions answered

Do I need a third dose of the measles vaccine? And other common questions answered

April 24, 2025
‘A good time to get a new car’: Tariff fears driving auto sales boost in Detroit

‘A good time to get a new car’: Tariff fears driving auto sales boost in Detroit

April 18, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Canadian news feed
  • Golf news
  • Hockey news
  • Music & Piano
  • Running & fitness
  • Skateboarding
CANADIANA NEWS - AI Curated content
  • Home
  • Canadian news feed
  • Skateboarding
  • Golf
  • Hockey
  • Running & fitness
  • Music & Piano
  • WeMaple
No Result
View All Result
CONTRIBUTE
CANADIANA NEWS - AI Curated content
  • Home
  • Canadian news feed
  • Skateboarding
  • Golf
  • Hockey
  • Running & fitness
  • Music & Piano
  • WeMaple
No Result
View All Result
CANADIANA NEWS - AI Curated content
No Result
View All Result
Home Canadian news feed

How some northern Ontario cities have solved their lifeguard shortages

Sarah Taylor by Sarah Taylor
July 30, 2025
in Canadian news feed
0
How some northern Ontario cities have solved their lifeguard shortages
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

After years of grappling with lifeguard shortages, several cities in northern Ontario say they’ve finally turned a corner, with fully staffed pools and supervised beaches this summer. 

You might also like

Some business owners say arson, extortion threats are driving them out of Winnipeg

Video shows Mounties, looking for impaired driver, ask to speak to man killed last year

Canadians’ health data at risk of being handed over to U.S. authorities, experts warn

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated lifeguard shortages across the country, leading some cities and town to scale back programming or leave certain waterfronts unsupervised. 

But cities like North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury say targeted changes — including free certification courses, boosted wages and changes to training — have improved the situation in the last year. 

“We definitely noticed [the shortage] coming out of COVID. There was such a long period of time where we weren’t able to operate,” said Kendra MacIsaac, vice-president of health and wellness for the YMCA of northeastern Ontario.

She said that during the pandemic, many lifeguards found different jobs because they were unable to work and their certifications eventually expired.

Due to that shortage, the YMCA’s downtown Sudbury location had to reduce its schedule or close the pool on some occasions. 

In the last few years, MacIsaac said the YMCA of northeastern Ontario has worked tirelessly to run ongoing certification courses in order to recruit enough lifeguards to be able to run aquatic programs and services at pre-pandemic levels. 

Usually after years of swimming lessons, 13-year-olds can start the lifeguard certification process by taking the bronze medallion and emergency first-aid course. After that, they can immediately take the bronze cross certification course, standard first aid and CPR ahead of the national lifeguard certification at 15 years old. 

In 2023, the Ontario government lowered the age requirement for lifeguards to address the staffing shortages across Ontario. MacIsaac said that made a “big difference.” 

But she said maintaining interest between swim lessons and lifeguard certifications is still a challenge.

“There’s often a gap when kids stop lessons and aren’t quite old enough for bronze medallion,” MacIsaac said. To bridge that, the YMCA is offering junior lifeguard clubs and other leadership programs to keep kids engaged between ages 10 and 13.

For the first time in several years, the City of North Bay’s supervised beaches are fully staffed.

“In recent years, only two of the three beaches were staffed due to the widespread shortage of lifeguards,” said a city spokesperson in a statement to CBC News.

“The City of North Bay has had a full complement of lifeguards across all three of its supervised beaches — Shabogesic Beach on Lake Nipissing, as well as The Cove and Olmsted Beach on Trout Lake.”

To address this shortage, in 2024, North Bay raised the hourly wage for lifeguards from the provincial minimum of $17.20 per hour to $19.50. The city said it has also benefited from the temporary closure of its indoor pool at the North Bay YMCA, allowing more certified guards to work outdoors.

Sault Ste. Marie has seen similar success. The city’s aquatic supervisor, Benjamin Ayton, said staffing levels have returned to what they were before the pandemic.

“We’re back to pre-COVID levels and we’re doing all right, at least for the municipality,” Ayton said.

“Some of the summer camps are still having a hard time, but we’ve been trying to help them out by getting them certified people.”

To boost interest and lower financial barriers, Sault Ste. Marie began offering all bronze and advanced lifeguard courses for free. Even when only a few people signed up, Ayton said, the city made sure the courses still ran.

“Even though not everyone would go on to work for us, we did offer all these courses for free and that really helped our area.” 

Greater Sudbury isn’t currently facing a lifeguard shortage affecting its programming, according to Jessica Watts, manager of recreation. 

She explained that as COVID-19 restrictions eased, the city returned to offering advanced life guarding certification courses. 

“We can train people more regularly and have them prepared to qualify for those lifeguard positions to build internal capacity and reduce reliance on external instructors,” Watts said.

“We also started training our own staff to teach those more advanced levels, which allowed us to deliver those advanced courses in house.”

Both Ayton and MacIsaac said lifeguarding is a public safety service that plays a critical role in preventing drownings and ensuring access to water-based recreation.

“Most of our job is prevention,” Ayton said. “It’s not a pleasant experience to have to deal with [an emergency] situation like that, but you do the best you can and it is rewarding when you are able to assist.”

Read Entire Article
Tags: Canada NewsCBC.ca
Share30Tweet19
Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Recommended For You

Some business owners say arson, extortion threats are driving them out of Winnipeg

by Sarah Taylor
July 31, 2025
0
Some business owners say arson, extortion threats are driving them out of Winnipeg

A recent string of alleged extortions has some business owners and workers in central Winnipeg neighbourhoods fearing for their safety, saying they're being threatened with arson and violence if

Read more

Video shows Mounties, looking for impaired driver, ask to speak to man killed last year

by Sarah Taylor
July 31, 2025
0
Video shows Mounties, looking for impaired driver, ask to speak to man killed last year

Two RCMP constables showed up at a Dartmouth, NS, home on Friday searching for a drunk driving suspect, seemingly unaware the man they wanted to speak to had been found...

Read more

We asked: How are you boycotting the U.S.?

by Sarah Taylor
July 31, 2025
0
We asked: How are you boycotting the U.S.?

As a trade deadline with the US hangs over Canada, we have been hearing about Canadians taking the ongoing trade war into their own hands So we asked you...

Read more

Canadians’ health data at risk of being handed over to U.S. authorities, experts warn

by Sarah Taylor
July 31, 2025
0
Canadians’ health data at risk of being handed over to U.S. authorities, experts warn

Canadians' electronic health records need more protections to prevent foreign entities from accessing patient data, according to commentary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal "Canadian

Read more

Inuit Child First Initiative announcement imminent, says federal minister

by Sarah Taylor
July 31, 2025
0
Inuit Child First Initiative announcement imminent, says federal minister

The Indigenous Services of Canada minister says an announcement about the future of the Inuit Child First Initiative is coming, but she's remaining tight-lipped about the details for...

Read more
Next Post
Sask. author’s anti-racism book is among 596 banned by U.S. Department of Defense for use in its schools

Sask. author's anti-racism book is among 596 banned by U.S. Department of Defense for use in its schools

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

I tried the 5-4-5 walking technique for a week — and it boosted my fitness and mood

I tried the 5-4-5 walking technique for a week — and it boosted my fitness and mood

May 28, 2025
Do I need a third dose of the measles vaccine? And other common questions answered

Do I need a third dose of the measles vaccine? And other common questions answered

April 24, 2025
‘A good time to get a new car’: Tariff fears driving auto sales boost in Detroit

‘A good time to get a new car’: Tariff fears driving auto sales boost in Detroit

April 18, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Canadian news feed
  • Golf news
  • Hockey news
  • Music & Piano
  • Running & fitness
  • Skateboarding
CANADIANA NEWS – AI Curated content

CANADIANA.NEWS will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values.

CATEGORIES

  • Canadian news feed
  • Golf news
  • Hockey news
  • Music & Piano
  • Running & fitness
  • Skateboarding

BROWSE BY TAG

Canada News CBC.ca Golf Hockey Lifehacker Ludwig-van.com Skateboarding tomsguide.com

© 2025 canadiana.news - all rights reserved. YYC TECH CONSULTING.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Canadian news feed
  • Skateboarding
  • Golf
  • Hockey
  • Running & fitness
  • Music & Piano
  • WeMaple

© 2025 canadiana.news - all rights reserved. YYC TECH CONSULTING.