New lifeguards and swim instructors promote water safety in Summerside

Credit Union Place in the City of Summerside is a hub for the community, offering a range of sport and recreation opportunities for PEI residents – including a full fitness centre, gym, arena, bowling alley.  

However, Tori DesRoche, the community’s acting aquatics manager, notes that finding and training lifeguards for the facility’s pool has been a challenge since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As a result, and to keep swimming safe, there has been a limit to the number of swimmers allowed in the pool at the same time – ensuring that there is a low ratio of swimmers to the one lifeguard on duty. 

That all changed during the summer of 2024, when the community was able to train and hire additional lifeguards and swimming instructors at the facility – which was made possible thanks to funding from the CPRA’s National Swimming Recovery Program (NSSRP), funded in part by the Government of Canada.  

DesRoche says the program allowed two participants to earn their bronze medallion, bronze cross, and standard first aid training. After this training, they were hired on as assistant guards. Two additional participants were also able to finish their instructor course and complete their national lifeguard course. 

This training, she says, made a big difference for swimmers in the community. 

“We weren’t able to have more swim time, but we were able to have more guarded periods and our ratios could increase,” DesRoche says. “Having an additional assistant guard, we were able to have 20 more people come into the pool.” 

She adds that the program improved water safety by having additional lifeguards at the facility, but also, the lifeguards that finished their instructor course were able to create more awareness about water safety within the community. 

“They’re now able to share that education that they received on how to be safe around the water, and they are now able to offer swimming lessons,” DesRoche says.  

The program’s participants also gave local youth employment opportunities they might not have otherwise had, says DesRoche. The city was able to keep the two assistant lifeguards on staff after they completed their training and working period. They also enrolled in their national lifeguard course. 

“Having this program was able to get them started, and allowed them to look at what was next for them,” DesRoche says. 

The program’s participants also learned important employment skills that they can use in aquatics, and other fields.  

The biggest skill they learned, says DesRoche, was communication. 

“Working in aquatics, you really need to have strong communication skills – whether that’s instructing or guarding,” she says, adding that the youth also learned time management skills and most importantly, first aid. “First aid is a very good life skill, and a lot of jobs require that now.”  

DesRoche says the job was also the youths’ first time working directly with the public. This experience equipped them with important customer service skills – such as enforcing pool rules with visitors.  

The program also gave the participants the chance to try something new. DesRoche says that two of the participants, who were initially hesitant to complete their instructor course, ended up enjoying it which built confidence and “got them out of their comfort zones.”   

DesRoche says that the participants were also grateful for the program because it covered the cost of important training, which can often be a big expense. Additionally, the community was thankful to have more lifeguards on duty, because it made them feel safer. 

“We have a lot of seniors that use our facility, so they always love when we have new faces around. They also think it’s great to have guarded pool times,” she says. “It’s good that this was an option, and we had the chance to do this.”