Ontario proposes lowering minimum age for lifeguards to 15 to ease staff shortages

Regulations in the province's Health Protection and Promotion Act currently say all lifeguards, assistant lifeguards, aquatic instructors and coaches must be at least 16 years old.

TORONTO — Ontario is proposing to lower the minimum age for lifeguards to 15, in part to address staff shortages many municipalities experienced last summer.

Regulations in the province’s Health Protection and Promotion Act currently say all lifeguards, assistant lifeguards, aquatic instructors and coaches must be at least 16 years old. But a few years ago, the Lifesaving Society lowered its age requirement for the national lifeguard certification to 15, and the government is looking to better align its rules with the training course.

The move is also meant to address staffing shortages and allow for more youth employment, the government says in a posting on its regulatory registry for public consultation.

“The proposed change also supports greater access to lifeguard-supervised public pools and swimming lessons across the province,” the posting says.

Stephanie Bakalar, corporate communications manager for the Lifesaving Society Ontario, said if a 15 year old meets all the requirements of the society’s national lifeguard certification, they are ready to work.

“We know that our programs account for maturity and judgment, which is necessary to be a lifeguard,” she said in an interview.

“So our lifeguards and instructors have to show physical, cognitive and emotional maturity and we’ve designed our program to account for that.”

Not every person, regardless of age, will necessarily start working right away as a lifeguard, but Bakalar said numbers of certifications are up, and allowing 15 year olds to work as lifeguards will be a “good step” toward addressing staff shortages.