Toronto to cancel some fall recreation classes over labour shortage

The city said 3,800 registrants in around 540 classes are affected, representing about five per cent of all courses offered by the city.

Thestar.com
Sept. 28, 2022
Francine Kopun

Toronto is cancelling more recreation programming this fall because it hasn’t been able to hire enough instructors for classes ranging from learn-to-swim to arts, fitness and sports.

The city cited an “ongoing nationwide labour shortage” as the reason.

Howie Dayton, the city’s director of community recreation, said the pandemic impaired the city’s ability to recruit and train people for the jobs.

“We don’t have a sufficient pipeline of certified, qualified and experienced staff available to replace those that have moved on over the two years,” said Dayton.

Some of the programming is highly specialized and requires certifications, qualifications or instructional experience, he said, adding that the situation has improved since the spring.

“Recruitment efforts are paying off. It’s a slower ramp-up time than I think we had hoped.”

Dayton said 1,536 people who enrolled in learn-to-swim are affected; 1,313 in learn-to-skate and 1,029 in arts, fitness and sports programming. About 540 classes are affected, roughly five per cent of the city’s fall programming.

He said the cancellations have been spread out across the city, but nothing has been cancelled entirely -- there are still 12,000 people enrolled in learn-to-skate, for example. All pools and community centres will remain open and are delivering a high level of service, he said.

The majority of the workforce engaged in delivering the programs are people aged 16 to 24, who tend to be students, some of whom have gone back to school, others who have graduated and gone on to full-time careers, Dayton said.

Dayton said other municipalities are experiencing similar issues.

The city is reaching out to people by phone to notify them of the cancellations.

“I can appreciate that people will be disappointed, and I hope they’re understanding. The reasons certainly aren’t a lack of effort or foresight, it’s quite circumstantial to the pandemic,” said Dayton.

Registrants for cancelled programming will receive a full refund, and alternative programs with spaces will be offered where possible, according to a city press release.

Between 3,200 and 3,500 staff are required to deliver approximately 10,000 programs to about 81,000 people currently registered for 2022 fall programming.

The city was forced to cancel swim lessons for more than 1,100 people this summer, due to a shortage of qualified swim instructors.

The city said that wages for aquatics positions were reviewed earlier this year, resulting in a 17 per cent average increase in lifeguard wages.

Casey Barnett, president of CUPE Local 79, representing 20,000 City of Toronto workers, said the union is currently in conversation with the city about its ability to attract and retain staff.

“Toronto residents rely on the high-quality aquatics programming that our members provide, and we need to find ways to ensure that they continue to be available,” said Barnett.

Information on cancelled classes is available by calling the city’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation department at 416-396-7378 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.