New city lifeguard policy comes at significant financial cost, London aquatic clubs say

Local aquatic clubs are expressing concern that a new city policy will force them to shoulder a significant amount in extra fees, and put the future of their organizations at risk.

Beginning in September, rentals of city-owned pools will require at least one municipal lifeguard to be on duty at all times, a cost paid for by those renting the facility. The lifeguard would be required even if a renting club had members poolside who had been National Lifeguard certified.

City officials say the move aligns with best practices, and is to help the municipality manage risk and liability.

However, some aquatic clubs argue the change caught them off guard and will require forking over potentially tens of thousands of dollars more per year as part of their rental agreements — a cost they'll have to pass on to members.

"For us, we're looking at an over 50 per cent increase for rental costs, with basically no notice," said Ian Kerr, board director of Forest City Diving Club (FCDC). The club's regular pool rates are $55 per hour, with a lifeguard adding another $29 per hour, per guard, he said.

"That would translate, if we passed it all on, to a 15 per cent increase for all divers just due to pool costs," or about $1,000 more annually for families, he said. The club said it will try and phase in the hike over several years. 

In a statement, Beth Heinrichs, president of the London Regional Artistic Swimming Club, said they too were disappointed, with the change coming "without any consultation with stakeholders from the community" and little explanation.

"The increased rental costs result in approximately a 20 per cent fee increase for our swimmers. This is significant in any year, but particularly now, given the current inflation impacting our community," Heinrichs said.

"We reached out to all councillors, including Mayor Josh Morgan; however, we were disappointed with the response. Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis, informed our Club that there was 'no recourse at this point.'"

CBC News contacted Lewis for comment, but received an automated reply that he was vacationing until mid-July. A city spokesperson said no one was available to speak on Tuesday.

In a statement, Ward 7 Coun. Corrine Rahman, whose ward includes the Canada Games Aquatics Centre where FCDC practices, said further discussions were needed.

"We know how important these clubs are to the community. We want to find a way to address the concerns while meeting our safety requirements."

Clubs learned of the lifeguard fee in January through an email from the city's supervisor of aquatic services, Shalyn Swan. She said the change covered all rentals, and that clubs would "notice staff assigned to guard" their pool use over the following weeks, at no cost to them, for the time being. 

"We will review as part of a management team in spring, and are aiming to have full coverage beginning in September," Swan writes in an email thread reviewed by CBC News.

In May, Kerr reached out for an update. Swan confirmed the requirement would be in effect as of Sept. 1, and the fee had been approved through the multi-year budget. Clubs received updated request forms for 2024-25, including the lifeguard rate, later that day.

Canada Games Aquatics Centre has lifeguards, but Kerr says "they might look over at the (diving) well, but there's no focus on watching the divers when they're going in and out of the pool." Now, a lifeguard would specifically oversee the club's use of the diving well.

In his email, Kerr asked what would happen if no lifeguard were available for a booking. Swan replied practices and/or rentals would only be cancelled if the city were unable to open the facility for staffing or maintenance reasons.

"It doesn't make any sense to me that we'd still be able to use the pool without [a city] lifeguard, if having a guard is now a requirement," Kerr told CBC News.

Like other clubs, FCDC's coaches are certified lifeguards. In a separate email to the club in June, an official from Mayor Josh Morgan's office explained the city would be responsible for any incident.

"Lifeguarding is about 100% full attention, and it would not be deemed reasonable if something went wrong due to coaches trying to do both jobs at once," the staffer wrote, adding that public input over changes to city user fees was collected last year.

For Kerr, the worst case scenario is that divers leave because of the increased cost. He estimates losing five or six would be a roughly $30,000 hit to the non-profit club.

"We can maintain a year, but… if we see some attrition of divers, we're concerned that we're going to be in trouble, 100 per cent, for the future viability of the club."