A Fraser Valley waterpark where a troubling electrical shock incident sent a dozen kids to hospital this week has the same operator as another waterpark that faced a delayed opening last year due to safety issues. Technical Safety BC said Cultus Lake Waterpark and Splashdown Vernon are owned and operated by the same director and president. Ahead of the 2025 season, the Vernon waterpark encountered safety issues and experienced a delayed opening. “At the Vernon waterpark, six of eleven slides were not permitted to open due to safety concerns. Many of these pre-season non-compliances were related to structure and maintenance checks, specifically around slide deterioration and safety protocols,” explained Kate Parker, the VP of operations with Technical Safety BC. This year, Splashdown is open, and Technical Safety BC says there are no safety compliance issues. The Cultus Lake Waterpark remains closed as an investigation continues into what led to 12 children receiving shock and burn injuries on Monday. “This is a very serious issue, and so the park is closed under safety order,” said Parker. She said the park did have a pre-season inspection in May, but Technical Safety BC did not find any serious issues at that time. “Our inspectors who are on site right now are doing a thorough investigation, and part of that is doing, understanding the timeline of both the electrical upgrades to the lighting as well as if, when and how that impacted the slide,” she said. The children injured on Monday were hurt after touching a railing while waiting to go on the Zero to 60 ride. All of the kids have since been discharged from the hospital. CTV News tried to reach the operator of the parks, but did not hear back. However, a post to the Cultus Lake Waterslides website on Friday says, “We understand there are many unanswered questions…and we hope these can be addressed as information becomes available.” “The investigation into this horrible incident is still in progress, we have confidence in the Technical Safety BC investigative team to determine the cause,” the update reads. “In addition to this, a site wide inspection is being conducted across the park to identify areas of concern. The steps being taken are critical to prevent an incident like this from happening again,” the update states. Technical Safety BC said the site has a history of working well with safety officers, but that the park won’t reopen until it’s safe for the public to return.
