A Vancouver city councillor is calling on the city to restore seasonal lifeguard services at four popular beaches.
Pete Fry, a councillor with the Green Party of Vancouver and a mayoral candidate, has introduced a motion that would direct City staff to allocate up to $600,000 to reinstate lifeguards at Spanish Banks East and West, Sunset Beach, and Third Beach in time for the 2026 beach season.
This follows public outcry after the Vancouver Park Board announced that it was cutting seasonal lifeguards from the beaches.
“I was shocked and somewhat incredulous that they would even be considered for deprioritization, because they are active beaches,” he told Daily Hive Urbanized.
In a memo published in March, the Park Board said that it would no longer staff seasonal lifeguards at Trout Lake, Sunset Beach, Third Beach, or Spanish Banks East and West.
Fry said that these beaches had been “essentially deprioritized as a result of responding to the pressures from the Ken Sim zero mean zero’ budget cuts, which has meant that the Park Board has had to find about $15 million in savings.”
“And their staff had recommended that one way to save money would be to deprioritize lifeguard services at Spanish Banks West and Spanish Banks East, Sunset Beach, Third Beach,” the city councillor said.
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In a statement sent to Daily Hive, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation said that five beaches (Jericho, Locarno, Kits, English Bay, and Second Beach) will still have lifeguards.
“Beaches that will no longer be lifeguarded see lower swimmer volumes and fewer incidents,” the Park Board said.
“Staff also reviewed which beaches are less suitable for swimming based on water conditions, temperature, currents, or boating activity. For example, Trout Lake and Sunset beach locations often see high E. coli counts requiring closures due to the unsafe swimming conditions.”
In the memo, the Park Board added that it has dealt with “persistent lifeguard recruitment and retention challenges” in recent years and pointed out that pools require to be lifeguarded year-round.
“Staffing beaches during the summer season draws from the same limited lifeguard workforce, resulting in reduced pool hours, program cancellations, and service disruptions at facilities that see significantly higher daily usage.”
But since this decision became public, many people have spoken out against it. For example, a petition calling on Vancouver to “bring back lifeguards” has garnered nearly 3,000 signatures.
Fry said his motion is in response to a Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation motion requesting up to $600,000 from City Council to reinstate lifeguards at these four beaches.
“We have the opportunity for a lot of really great swimming and water activity here, and folks deserve to feel safe,” he said.