A glance at last week’s Coast Reporter classifieds reveals almost a full page dedicated to the recruitment of local lifeguards. Postings for positions at pools in Pender Harbour, Sechelt and Gibsons, at both the Lifeguard I and II levels, closed early this week. The recruitment comes as the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), which runs recreation on the Coast, has had to slash pool hours in recent months because of lifeguard shortages.
Lifeguard numbers down
The SCRD communications department told Coast Reporter of the 18 permanent positions (full and part time) established at the Sechelt and Gibsons pools, there were five vacancies.
At Pender Harbour Aquatic & Fitness Centre only two of five permanent full and part time positions were filled.
Backing up those permanent roles is a cadre of casual employees. An on-call group of 32 employees is currently listed for the Sechelt and Gibsons sites. In Pender, the casual lifeguard list has nine names on it.
In recent years, the SCRD has, on occasion, had to temporarily cut hours at its aquatic centres due to staff shortages, and the issue isn't unique to the Coast. Staffing lifeguard positions has become a national challenge.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, lifeguards in Canada have been hard to find. In fact, reports have shown a massive decline of up to 30-40% compared to pre-pandemic times” according to a statement in March on BC Parks and Recreation Association’s website. Factors the organization cited included shift work, difficulties securing full-time positions and training demands.
Training lifeguard trainers
To up its chances of finding qualified aquatic facility staff, the SCRD says it has “consistently increased” the annual number of offerings for Bronze Medallion, Bronze Cross, National Lifeguard, and Standard First Aid courses: the educational requirements for lifeguarding.
“Up until recently, the SCRD was dependent upon the National Lifesaving Society to offer courses, usually on the mainland,” SCRD communications manager Aidan Buckley wrote in an Aug 15 email.
“In 2023, the SCRD Board approved the development of a new position, Aquatic Instructor, with the intent that these positions would attain the necessary certifications to be able to instruct the courses needed to become a lifeguard,” he noted. The goal: to build internal capacity to offer those courses locally.
And it is working. “Throughout 2023/24, the SCRD has been able to support five staff members to attend the courses required to successfully attain all the certifications required to become (Aquatic) instructors. Two individuals have completed all the required training,” Buckley wrote.
Those folks are considered “highly trained professionals who ensure safety, supervision of lifeguards, and teach Aquatic courses from swim lessons to Lifeguard certifications,” he noted. Their hourly pay rate with the SCRD is just over $40. (Hourly pay rates for lifeguards start at just over $27 per hour and those employed for 20 hours a week or more also receive benefits.)
Lifeguards, as well as swim and aquafit instructors require re-certifications of their cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills annually and retesting on other qualifications every two or three years, and the SCRD assists their staff with obtaining those requirements.
With its own staff now qualified to teach basic courses, the number of local candidates who completed as "national lifeguard registrants" went from seven in the 2023/24 season to 20 in 2024/25, building up the number of potential new lifeguards.
Offering lifeguard training courses only goes so far in establishing a “pool” of available local lifeguards. Those classes don’t run if there are not enough students, which has been a situation the SCRD has faced, according to Buckley. Those with an interest in upcoming courses should check the SCRD fall recreation program, available online, with registration opening Aug. 20.
Career advancement, at the pool and beyond
Permanent or casual SCRD lifeguards interested in advancement, Buckley explained, are considered first, as internal candidates in regional district aquatic centre job competitions. That, coupled with the opportunities to train and re-certify locally, means opportunities to build and maintain an aquatic career on the Coast exist.
Buckley noted that most of those who register for lifeguard training programs with the SCRD are between 15 and 19 years of age.
Tommy Gamble, a former Pender Harbour pool employee off and on for 18 years starting in the late 1990s, launched into his first career step, Red Cross Bronze Medallion certification, in his early teens. He continued and qualified as a lifeguard before graduating from the local secondary school, completing almost every course and certificate needed over his career on the Coast.
As for why he embarked on lifeguard training, Gamble said, “My sisters were lifeguards, so the family said you should do it too…it was a good thing, I was a shy boy and it did help get me out of my shell."
It was a lack of steady employment hours at the SCRD facilities that led him to eventually seek other work. At SCRD aquatic centres, he held both casual and part-time positions. He needed to also work maintaining private pools and at a local resort to earn enough to make ends meet. The staffing model of maintaining a list of casual employees to fill in when facility hour demands are high or when permanent employees are unavailable means more operational security for the employer, but it can leave those temporary employees with only sporadic paid time. Those who work as casuals often maintain a second jobs, until a pool position with regular hours opens up.
While Gamble has moved onto a job as an equipment operator for a Pender Harbour excavation and trucking firm, he views his years on “the pool deck” as crucial to a successful life.
“I’ve taken skills I learned at the pool and done pool maintenance both in the Lower Mainland and locally. I’ve learned how to talk to people, customer service skills and problem-solving skills. Now, when I’m installing a septic system, I think back to how similar it is to working with pools and hot tubs." He said his first aid training has been useful in both personal and work life as well.
Asked if he would recommend lifeguard training to young people despite the issues with amassing employment hours, he said, “100% yes, it’s a great vocation, a great job to get… it gave me high school credits, and it opens doors in a lot of places."
