Aquatic staff shortage puts TDSB school swimming class in jeopardy

Kate Dupuis's son has been looking forward to starting first-grade swimming classes at his Toronto school since last year, but now those classes might not happen at all. 

That's because Dupuis got an email on the first day of school saying the two aquatics instructor positions meant for the class remain unfilled.

"He was really, really disappointed," Dupuis said. 

She said swimming classes were paused for the first week. Then, in another email seen by CBC Toronto, the school said her son's class will have instructors come from a nearby school whose pool is under construction for roughly a month. 

"After that we don't really know what's going to happen."

In an email to CBC Toronto, the Toronto District School Board noted a "provincewide shortage" of aquatic staff. That's despite a record number of Ontarians becoming certified as aquatic instructors, according to industry professionals who say the issue could boil down to difficulty retaining staff.

Stephanie Bakalar, the spokesperson for the Lifesaving Society of Ontario, which certifies aquatic staff in the province, has seen that firsthand. 

"We're certifying more than ever before," she said. Still, she says she's heard from programs in multiple jurisdictions who can't seem to cover all of their shifts. 

Instructor certifications were 24 per cent higher in 2023 than the previous record set in 2019, according to the organization's recent annual report. 

But with many teenagers working aquatic jobs, hiring staff to teach public daytime school classes like at TDSB could be a difficult task, Bakalar said.

Last year, provincial legislation reduced the age limit for people to receive their national lifeguard certification from 16 to 15 years old, something that's helped some jurisdictions recover from the shortages they've seen during the pandemic.

But the issues remain.

"Teenagers are in school and a lot of people view lifeguarding and aquatic instruction as a job for teenagers," Bakalar said. "This is not the case. Lifeguarding and aquatic instruction is a job for everyone."

Dan Cardoza, senior general manager at the YMCA of Greater Toronto based in Oshawa, said the organization hasn't seen a shortage of staff at any of their centres in the Greater Toronto Area. But he understands why some may have trouble keeping staff around.