Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A lack of programs to certify lifeguards is contributing to the industry-wide shortage seen in Canada, a Toronto city official says.
"The key contributor to this issue is a couple years of lack of certification programs, where the industry hasn't been able to really keep up with the development," Aydin Sarrafzadeh, interim director of management services at parks, forestry and recreation for the City of Toronto, told CTV News Channel on Friday.
Across the country and North America, cities are reporting a shortage of lifeguards, which has affected their summer operations.
Many city officials and those involved in the industry cite a lack of certification programs amid the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason behind the current shortage.
While the gap in training is not a new phenomenon, some say COVID-19 has made the situation worse.
Approximately 1,000 lifeguards supervise beaches, as well as outdoor and indoor pools, throughout the summer in Toronto, with additional staff required to supervise wading pools.
As of June 22, the city said it had about 700 lifeguards ready to supervise all of the city's 55 outdoor and indoor pools and up to 10 beaches this season.
However, due to a lack of swim instructors, the city had to cancel 169 swimming courses, affecting approximately 1,140 participants.
The city said in a June 22 statement that mandatory certification and recertification programs were put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sarrafzadeh said the city has opened and staffed all of its outdoor assets, while at the same time trying to re-certify as many people as possible and both hire and train new candidates quickly.
Meanwhile, other sports such as soccer are also feeling the pinch of having fewer officials available.
With files from CTV News
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.