After years of dealing with the shortage of lifeguard, several cities in northern Ontario say that they have finally folded a corner, with fully served pools and supervised beaches this summer.
COVID-19 Pandemia exacerbated life shortage A naughty fieldtaking some cities and towns to climb the programming or leave certain steps without supervision.
But cities such as North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury say that specific changes, including free certification courses, promoted wages and changes in training, have improved the situation in the last year.
Reconstruction after pandemic
“We definitely notice [the shortage] Leaving Covid. There was such a long period of time in which we could not operate, “said Kendra Macisaac, vice president of health and well -being of the YMCA of the northeast of Ontario.
She said that during the pandemic, many lifeguards found different jobs because they could not work and their certifications finally expired.
Due to that shortage, the location of the YMCA Sudbury Center had to reduce your schedule or close the pool On some occasions.
In recent years, Macisaac said that the Northeast of Ontario has worked tirelessly to execute continuous certification courses to recruit enough lifeguards to be able to execute programs and aquatic services at pre-pondemic levels.
Usually, after years of swimming lessons, 13 -year -old children can begin the life certification process taking the bronze medallion and emergency first course. After that, they can immediately take the CROSS Bronze Certification Course, standard first aid and CPR before the national lifeguard at age 15.
In 2023, the Ontario government reduced the age requirement for lifeguards to address the scarcity of personnel in Ontario. Macisaac said that made a “big difference.”
But he said that maintaining interest between swimming lessons and lifeguard certifications remains a challenge.
“There is often a gap when children stop the lessons and are not old enough for the bronze medallion,” Macisisaac said. To close that, the YMCA offers Junior lifeguard clubs and other leadership programs to keep children committed between the ages of 10 and 13 years.
Various strategies
For the first time in several years, the supervised beaches of the city of North Bay have the staff.
“In recent years, only two of the three beaches were treated due to the general shortage of lifeguards,” said a city spokesman in a statement to CBC News.
“The city of North Bay has had a complete life supplement on its three supervised beaches: Shabogesic beach in the Japissing Lake, as well as Cove and Olmsted Beach in Trout Lake.”
To address this shortage, in 2024, North Bay raised the hourly salary for lifeguards of the provincial minimum of $ 17.20 per hour at $ 19.50. The city said that it has also benefited from the temporary closure of its inner pool in 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 the personnel levels have returned to what they were before the pandemic.
“We have returned to the levels before CO-Covid and we are well, at least for the municipality,” said Ayton.
“Some of the summer camps are still having a bad time, but we have been trying to help them getting certified people.”
To increase the lowest interest and financial barriers, Sault Ste. Marie began offering all bronze and advanced lifeguard courses. Even when only a few people signed up, said Ayton, the city made sure the courses still work.
“Although not everyone would continue working for us, we offered all these courses for free and that really helped our area.”
The great Sudbury currently does not face a shortage of lifeguard that affects its programming, according to Jessica Watts, recreation manager.
He explained that as COVID-19 restrictions decreased, the city again offered advanced courses for the surveillance certification of life.
“We can train people with more regularity and make them prepare to qualify for those lifeguards to develop an internal capacity and reduce dependence on external instructors,” Watts said.
“We also began to train our own staff to teach those most advanced levels, which allowed us to deliver those advanced courses at home.”
Both Ayton and Macisisaac said that lifeguard is a public security service that plays a fundamental role in drowning prevention and guaranteeing access to water -based recreation.
“Most of our work is prevention,” said Ayton. “It is not a pleasant experience to have to deal with [an emergency] Situation like that, but you do the best you can and it is gratifying when you can help. “
