Aquatic staff shortage puts TDSB school swimming class in jeopardy

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

That's because Dupuisgot anemail on the first day of school saying thetwoaquatics 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 schoolwhose pool is under constructionfor roughly a month.

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

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

'We're certifying more than ever before'

Stephanie Bakalar, the spokesperson for the Lifesaving Society of Ontario, which certifiesaquatic 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 whocan'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 withmany teenagers working aquatic jobs, hiring staff to teach public daytime school classes like at TDSB could be a difficult task,Bakalarsaid.

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," Bakalarsaid. "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'tseen 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.

"Generally lifeguards tend to skew on the younger side. So a lot of them are currently students," he said. "They might be high school students or university or college students and the work might be a little bit transient. It might be short term."

It's unclear what's behind the aquatics instructor shortages at the TDSB, specifically. The school board did not respond when asked about specifics. It's unclear how many classes and schools across the board are affected.

The City of Toronto, which previously cancelled over 150 Toronto swim courses due to staffing shortages, said in a statement that while it's still hiring more aquatic staff, it still hasenough to run its programs as planned this year.

'Swimming is such a vital life skill'

Dupuis said that if the shortage at her son's school is not resolved, the next viable solution would be to sign him up for the city's swimming classesa process she describes as similar to buying a concert ticket.

"You have to make sure that you're up before seven," she said. "You have to have all your codes ready. You have to keep your fingers crossed you're going to get in."

The next best option, she said, would be private lessons.

Dupuis feels lucky that there are swimming classes available at her children'sschools, adding they'resomething she believes every child should have access to.

"[There are] so many concerns around kids in front of screens and not getting enough physical education. It is so important for kids to have access to any type of movement in their day," she said. "And swimming is such a vital life skill."