Toronto working to fill lifeguard positions amid nationwide shortage

The City of Toronto is encouraging people to apply to become lifeguards at city pools as the industry faces a vast shortage of certified lifeguards across Canada.

Certification was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic creating a lack of qualified lifeguards to take on these roles for the summer.

The city says they have been anticipating this shortage and has been actively working to recruit new lifeguards and returning ones to fill their 2,200 spots this year.

“Two years ago, when all of the pools had to shut down, many of the lifeguards were furloughed or lost their jobs. So there’s a whole talent pool that have now gone and they’ve moved on and they’re doing other things,” said Barbara Byers, Senior Research Officer with the Lifesaving Society.

“There really haven’t been new lifeguards certified as well as the sort of pipeline or the pathway, the pre-lifeguarding courses, so say 12-to-14 year olds over the past two years weren’t taking those courses,” said Byers. “So it’s a real challenge.”

Byers said municipalities will have to be creative in their hiring decisions this summer.

“Competitive swimmers are great candidates because they’ve got the stamina, they’ve got the physical fitness. As for people who have retired, maybe they haven’t been a lifeguard for a while, but if they’re fit – and a lot of seniors put a lot of emphasis on fitness and training – look there,” said Byers. “I’m being very open minded to different ways to fill the spots.”

Howie Dayton, Director of Community Recreation, said it’s been a challenging year to find lifeguards, but believes they will be in good shape for the summer.

“We’ve hired approximately 1,600 to date or 71 per cent for programs that started a couple of weeks ago,” said Dayton. “But that said, we’ve got about 800 applicants that the team is currently screening and determining if they’re sufficiently qualified.”

They also made facilities available this spring specifically for lifeguard and swim instructor certification training to enhance recruitment efforts.

In a release, staff say kids as young as 14 are eligible to apply to become wading pool attendants and aquatic program assistants but must also be certified.

Dayton added they do have a plan in place if they not be able to be fully staffed.

[We have] some mitigation approaches that we would employ if possible. It could be things like the phased opening of some of the outdoor pools, it could mean that we would have to adjust hours,” said Dayton. “One of the things that we would never do, though, is compromise public safety, and therefore, we will meet whatever the required standards are in terms of the level of supervision required at each location in order to open it so that would never be adjusted.”

Byers added the wage a lifeguard earns could also be contributing to the shortage and increasing it could attract more candidates.

“Years ago, there was a big difference in a lifeguard wage versus retail and food service and that gap has diminished,” said Byers. “I think there should be a premium on a position such as the lifeguard because you’re looking after people and you’re responsible for their safety. And I think it should reflect the training that they’ve had to take to go there.”

Swimming pools are scheduled to open on June 18 in 10 spots across Toronto, before the rest open later in the summer.

Canada’s Wonderland also had some difficulty finding lifeguards for their waterpark but tell CityNews they are in good shape from a staffing perspective for when Splash Works opens daily on June 16. It is currently only open on weekends.