Despite great demand, the shortage of lifeguards and instructors across Canada has forced many municipalities to scale back pool hours and limit the number of lessons available owing to safety reasons.
City officials of both Toronto and Ottawa had to cancel swimming lessons this summer because of staffing shortages.
The waiting list in Prince George, B.C., topped 700 this spring and other municipalities were also struggling to meet the demand.
In Prince Edward Island, some beaches would be without supervision, the province announced.
Advocates are concerned that the shortage could have lasting effects on a generation of children struggling to access swimming lessons.
The labor shortage is particularly acute among lifeguards across Canada, said Barbara Byers, public education director at the Lifesaving Society of Canada.
Byers is concerned that children, particularly those from low-income families, won’t have access to essential life skills of swimming lessons,
Byers suggested that governments should address the shortage by raising the wage for instructors and lifeguards or providing free training as it can cost up to $1,000 to get certified.
Some municipalities have already taken such steps. Earlier this year, the district of West Vancouver offered qualified candidates free lifeguard training worth close to $1,000, while in Quebec, a publicly funded organization called Brigade Splash visits pools, beaches and waterparks around the province to meet with staff and swimmers to spread information about how to be safe near the water.
Since 2016, Philippe Doucet, the head of the program, has worked as a lifeguard.
One aspect of his current job is to get more young people interested in becoming a lifeguard.
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