What happened to all the lifeguards?
An official with an Ontario attraction says it is struggling to find lifeguards as the weather starts to heat up.
"It’s not only an Ontario problem, it’s happening right across Canada, and in the United States," said Steve Mayer, the general manager of Wet 'n' Wild Toronto.
"Most parks from what I’ve seen are down 30 per cent in applications from lifeguards."
Mayer said people are interested in applying but a couple of things are influencing theme parks.
"COVID really impacted our industry. A lot of kids weren’t able to get in pools so their licences expired, and, in the meantime, found other jobs."
Mayer said getting young people trained as lifeguards is important but he added that process certainly takes time.
"It takes 20 to 30 hours of training to become an attendant or an assistant lifeguard. And then again, it can be years for full lifeguards."
Despite the shortage in North America, Mayer said Wet 'n' Wild Toronto does, in fact, have enough lifeguards at the facility in Brampton, so this shortage will just mean those young people will be working more hours.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.