Canadian Red Cross winds down swim, lifeguard lessons to focus on humanitarian work

A person seen swimming in a pool in this generic file photo. (Guduru Ajay bhargav / Pexels)

The Canadian Red Cross has announced that that after 76 years, it will no longer offer swimming and lifeguard programs in order to direct more attention to its humanitarian operations.

The Red Cross says in recent years it has seen a "surge in disasters, emergencies and community health crises" that has forced the organization to re-evaluate its operations. These crises include the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid epidemic and the numerous natural disasters that have affected Canada.

“We continue to believe in the importance of water safety training, but no longer saw that we offered unique expertise in that area," Canadian Red Cross CEO Conrad Sauvé said in a news release last week.

"We also believe the relative humanitarian need for water safety training has been surpassed by demands in other areas in which we are well positioned to make a difference.”

The organization's swimming and lifeguard programs will instead be offered by the Lifesaving Society, which has delivered learn-to-swim and lifeguard programs for more than 100 years.

“The Lifesaving Society is a respected, accomplished organization that has long shared our passion to reduce drownings and aquatic-related injuries. We have every confidence that the water safety training needs of Canadians will continue to be well-served in their care,” Sauvé said.

The Red Cross says it will try to redeploy affected employees to other parts of the organization.

"We are enormously proud of what we have accomplished in providing water safety training and we are truly grateful to entire generations of staff and volunteers who dedicated themselves to creating a program of the highest standard," said Sauvé.