2026 Outdoor Pools Operational Plan
Motion 11 · Board Committee Meeting – March 30, 2026, March 30, 2026
Summary
- Endorsed proposed operational changes for the 2026 outdoor pool season across Kitsilano, Second Beach, New Brighton, and Maple Grove pools.
- Key changes: public swim sessions extended to three hours (four hours for final Kitsilano session); lane swims extended to two hours; one facility break eliminated per site; weekend hours extended at Kitsilano; new 8 a.m. session added at Second Beach; New Brighton hours adjusted
- Reservation-to-drop-in ratio shifted from 80/20 to 75/25 for public swims; 50/50 for lane swims (ratios apply at session start; drop-in capacity increases as swimmers leave mid-session)
- New no-show management: reservation refunds available up to five hours before session start; frequent no-show accounts to be followed up; unused spots released back to drop-in capacity
- Late entry permitted up to 15 minutes before session end, responding to feedback from KIT Swimmers Group
- Communications changes: ShowPass platform to display "reservations full, drop-ins available" rather than "sold out"
- Informed by a Leger survey of 801 Metro Vancouver residents (November-December 2025): 86% of recent visitors reported positive experience; 58% said reservations made visits easier to plan; 32% reported wanting to visit but being unable to secure a reservation; 60% of City of Vancouver respondents had not used a Vancouver outdoor pool
- 2025 data: only two sessions at Kitsilano Pool resulted in any turn-aways (1 person and 15 people respectively); approximately 44% of visits used reservations, 56% were drop-ins
- CUPE Local 1004 representative noted frontline lifeguard and cashier staff were not included in the Leger survey; raised that Vancouver's 1:60 lifeguard-to-swimmer ratio exceeds the national best-practice recommendation of 1:40; and flagged ongoing difficulty for patrons unfamiliar with the online booking system
- Two commissioners opposed, questioning whether polling only reached pool users and whether open-access (no reservation) models used at other large events should be considered; staff maintained the hybrid model is consistent with how all Park Board recreation sessions operate
- Four letters of support received; no speakers registered in opposition
- Status of Kitsilano Pool for the 2026 season (pending investigation of winter damage to the tank) to be reported back to the board within approximately two weeks
Vote
Public comments
Read all 1 statements
Transcript
4 segments
Thank you. Well, I would like to first off thank all of our staff, especially our frontline staff that, you know, they have the benefit of actually dealing with so much wonderfulness, but sometimes they do have to be confronted with some angry patrons and You know, certainly this board, speaking for myself, appreciate their dedication. We have a 43-year member sitting in the back here. And, you know, you wouldn't be a part of that team if it wasn't really rewarding and meaningful. You know, I'm just looking for my number here, but if I can remember it offhand, it's close to 250,000 visits last year. There were, you know, two situations where, you know, individuals needed to line up. And so, yes, I would love to see us get down to zero, but I have to look at, you know, 250,000... you know, very happy participants as a school teacher. You know, I know of so many students that go and visit the pools. They go with families. They love the idea that they can book their time for their birthday party and know that they'll be actually in the pool, on the deck, in the water, not standing, waiting to be let in and hopefully being let in. Are there opportunities for this board and staff to come up with new opportunities as we go forward? I believe we can. And certainly I'm going to hope that we can find ways that we can minimize that time where the pool is offline. A pool without someone jumping and swimming in it is not really a fun pool. And so first of all, you know, we want to get swimmers in this year. But I think, again, having staff continue to work on ways to make sure that we can get as many swimmers into these pools as possible. and to ensure that they are safely enjoying their time. But I'm going to be supporting this. I know that it is not the perfect picture. Again, two people not into our pool is not perfect, but I still look at almost a quarter of a million users, and to me that's a great success. And again, thank you to all the staff that make that possible.
Thank you. Commissioner Digby.
Thank you, Commissioner, and I reiterate your thanks to staff for this excellent report. Commissioners, for many years, the lineups at our outdoor pools, especially kids' pool, have been unpredictable and at times incredibly long. On hot summer days, families with children, seniors and everyone else waited up for two hours, waiting, getting sunburned, sometimes getting into disputes and hoping that others would hurry up and leave the pool. On some of those days, our lifeguard staff spent more time treating heat stroke in the lineups than watching swimmers. So in 2018, a proposal came along to modernize the lineup system with the potential for online booking. And fortunately, the proposal was ready to go when COVID struck, and the system worked well. A maximum number of visitors were able to enjoy the pools in a maximum of healthy circumstances. So in recent years, the system has become a hybrid system. And as we heard tonight, the system permits every day several hundred confirmed entries booked online and twice as many walk-ins or drop-in visits. Some days there's over 1,800 drop-in visits at the kids' pool alone. Now, commissioners, I've spent a lot of time knocking on doors and meeting people at street events in the Kitsilano area and all around the city. And when I ask if they prefer the online booking system or the walk-in, many people have very strong opinions. They insist that one is far preferred over the other. And, you know, I'm fine with that outcome. But very, very few of them say that the other option should be cancelled because I'm so much in favour of my option. Now, there is a minority of Vancouverites out there who say that one of those options should be cancelled. But, you know, the vast majority of Vancouverites understand that if you want to book ahead, you can. And if you want to drop in, you can. In the former case, you need to be a little bit organized and get a spot before they sell out. In the latter case, you can be more spontaneous and you can just show up and walk right in, except sometimes you might have to wait for 30 minutes on a sunny day if there's a lineup. So, folks, the choice really is yours. Do you want to book online or do you just want to show up? You know, I am shocked that no one signed up to speak against this motion today at this meeting. I find the fact that no one showed up to make the case that one of these two hybrid options should be cancelled really speaks for itself. And... I'm not an expert in pool management. I depend on the highly trained park board staff to make these recommendations. And tonight, there's nothing that gives me any evidence that this recommendation is not the right one. And so I'm going to support it, as I've been encouraged to, by dozens of people on the streets and at the doors of Vancouver. Have a good summer at the pools.
Any more commissioners have comments?
I'll make a quick comment, which is I think that staff really went above and beyond on providing the data to back up this recommendation. I think there's a lot of... TALK ONLINE, AND I THINK THAT PRESENTS ONE VIEWPOINT, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WHEN WE MAKE DECISIONS, IT REPRESENTS EVERYBODY IN THE CITY, AND I THINK THE STAFF WENT TO SORT OF THE GOLD STANDARD OF STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, WHICH IS SORT OF THE LEGER POLLS, WHICH REPRESENTS A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF PEOPLE WHO USE, OF THE SORT OF PUBLIC, AND PRESENTS THE OPINIONS MORE CLEARLY. And I think that it does show that there is a split. But I think it shows that there is a large portion of the population that does appreciate the reservation system. And then the other data shows that, you know, drop-ins are available. There was only two days where, you know, 15 people in total in the entire summer got turned away for a drop-in and everybody else got accommodated. So really, you know, this isn't an issue of a reservation system or not a reservation system. I think the issue is just one of education, that the public needs to be aware that if they want to make a reservation, they can, but if they want to drop in, more than likely they will be able to get in. So I really hope that we can take this and educate the public that they can visit our pools and we can get as many people through the doors of our pool and into the water as we can. And I think these recommendations are a great way to do that. So I'll be supporting this.
Okay. So, you know, for the comments, I'll call a vote by a show of hands. All in favor?
I see Commissioner Bastiowanski, Commissioner Christensen, Commissioner Digby, Commissioner Jensen. All opposed? I see Commissioner Howard and Commissioner Hare. That carries.
Thank you, everyone. That is the end of our agenda. So the meeting is now adjourned. Yeah, so just the board meeting will convene tomorrow at 6 30 p.m. Thanks everyone
Statement Watch
Thank you, through the Chair. My name is Craig Amundsen, and currently I am representing the members of CUPE Local 1004. And there are some concerns that we've seen from this. I'm not saying that we're in favour or opposed to it, but there's some issues in the report that drew our attention. So first and foremost, the report references staff's work on all this. That, unfortunately, doesn't include the staff who do the work. We were not consulted, questioned. We were not part of Leger's surveys. And just to be very clear, 1004 Lifeguards and Local 15 Cashiers were the frontline people who are facing the angry folks. And they're out there and they're upset. And some of them have driven in from Chilliwack with their kids for a day at the pool, being absolutely clueless about the process. And here they are facing potentially an hour-long wait, as was exampled by the staff. I don't see that getting lesser. We've been working on this since COVID. It was actually my understanding, perhaps through Mr. Kellogg, that the original program started indoors, and then COVID hit, and we followed it for the health and safety reasons. But are sessions being operated at indoor pools? It was my understanding that it was only the outdoor pools that were having this particular model, which is generating, unfortunately, some negative reaction.
Sorry, I'm not allowed to ask that question.
Through yourself. My apologies. A couple of key things. Early in the report, it references a specific program of training that went through the Life Saving Society and a partnership with the Life Saving Society as the... ratio of lifeguards to staff was lowered to meet more health and safety standards, or the standards that were recommended across the country. I also happen to be a National Lifeguard Instructor for the city and for other providers. The 1 to 60 is a Vancouver-specific number. The recommendation in best practice is 1 to 40. Presumably for reasons of budget, staffing, what have you, Vancouver's are higher than that recommendation, and I just thought you guys should be aware of that. Number two, I'm repeating myself here, but the market survey staff were not included. And so from our perspective and in talking with some of the head lifeguards at the pools in the last couple of days, we're aware of the communities that are missing. There are many that are not online. Perhaps they don't want to use the phone, they don't want to use the program, and as your own statistics showed, there's a decrease in support for the popularity of it, highest at the younger ages and decreasing fairly steadily as people get older. And then, as I've referenced earlier, visitors from outside Lower Mainland and outside BC and outside the province, frequently they come and are disappointed. And it is the cashiers and the lifeguards who are there having to deal with sometimes their quite loud anger. And this is nothing to do with some of the other groups locally who are adamant that the system should change as well. We're not... taking a position one side or the other. We're just representing staff and what they're having to deal with with this particular situation. I'm sorry to cut you off. That was the time.
But thank you so much for coming out to speak tonight. And do any commissioners... Oh, Commissioner Jensen has a question.