'Losses up to $10M': YMCA in Langford in dire need of additional funding

Langford’s YMCA/YWCA building is in troubled waters. Never once has it turned a profit, and the losses continue to pile up.

Langford’s YMCA/YWCA building is in troubled waters. Never once has it turned a profit, and the losses continue to pile up.

"We’ve accumulated losses of up to $10-million as of the end of 2022," said Derek Gent, CEO of the YMCA-YWCA Vancouver Island Branch.

Opened in 2016, the 60,000-square-foot building is owned by Westhills Development. The City of Langford and the YMCA agreed to lease the facility for 25 years.

The YMCA board has now asked Langford to double its yearly financial contributions to the operation, or the YMCA may close the pool in a month's time.

"From $950,000 a year to $1.9-million through a services agreement," said Gent.

On Monday night, Langford council met during a committee of the whole meeting to discuss the proposal. It voted to move the issue ahead to the next public council meeting on March 16.

A possible option is for Langford to buy the building outright and manage the facility itself.