Lifeguard staffing woes resolved following ‘targeted recruitment initiatives’ by City of Kamloops

Oct 29, 2026 | 3:55 PM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops doesn’t foresee any staffing challenges with its complement of lifeguards following what is says were “targeted recruitment initiatives” to attract more staff.

“We’re in a really great position right now as far as our lifeguarding staff,” Sherri Holmes, the city’s sport, recreation and wellness manager, told CFJC.

Issues around lifeguard availability reached a crisis last year, when the city reduced hours at the Westsyde Pool and Fitness Centre so lifeguards could be reassigned to the Canada Games Aquatic Centre at the Tournament Capital Centre.

Those staffing woes have been resolved, and Holmes said the city’s complement of lifeguards has gone from about 45 last year to more than 60.

“Our aquatics supervisor has done an amazing job with recruiting more staff and we’ve also seen a bit of a shift in the lifeguarding where we really struggled through COVID and we lost a lot of our senior lifeguards, we are starting to see that refresh,” Holmes added.

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Holmes said the increased staffing complement has allowed the city to staff swimming pools in Westsyde and the TCC around the year, and the Brock Outdoor Pool and the Riverside Park beach in the summer.

“Hopefully we can maintain our staff now,” Holmes said, noting the city is always on the lookout for more lifeguards, especially people with experience and availability during the daytime hours.

“Between some really intentional recruitment processes on behalf of our aquatics supervisor and HR, we’ve seen an improvement,” Holmes said. “[There’s also been] an overall shift in the number of people coming back to lifeguarding.”

by Victor Kaisar

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Lifeguard staffing woes resolved following ‘targeted recruitment initiatives’ by City of Kamloops

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