Background:

The old Mount Pleasant Outdoor Pool was demolished in 2009, and a new pool promised in the 2010 Master Plan for Mount Pleasant Community Park, but after 14 years, the City of Vancouver and its Board of Parks & Recreation have yet to approve funding to build the pool, even though the pool was included in VanSplash, Vancouver' Aquatic Strategy, in 2019. The Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation attempted to include partial funding in the 2023-2026 Capital Plan, but Council refused, and neither was any money allocated from the City's mid-term review (2024) as Council had other priorities, and continues to underfund parks and recreation infrastructure.

Vancouver is deficient in outdoor pools per population compared to other Canadian cities (****See Chart below), and the shortage has become increasingly desperate as the city grows and densifies, leading to lineups at outdoor pools, and families scrambling to find lessons for their children to learn to swim and practice water safety. The climate crisis has led to heat domes/heat waves and a shortage of places to cool off, and more violent weather that has damaged waterfront pools such as Kitsilano outdoor pool and the Vancouver Aquatic Centre indoor pool. We need outdoor pools in areas of Vancouver that are not perched on the waterfront, and which provide people with access to pools that reduce trips by private vehicles. New outdoor pools can be built with a climate change lens to reduce the production of greenhouse gases and provide swimmers with clean and healthy recreation. 

We therefore petition the elected representatives and staff of the Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation and the City of Vancouver, who are responsible for the maintenance and growth of Vancouver's aquatic facilities, to:

1. Expedite building Outdoor Pools as per the 2016 Park Board motion: https://parkboardmeetings.vancouver.ca/2016/20160530/MOTIONDECISION-ExpeditingNewOutdoorPools-20160530.pdf
2. Prioritize Mount Pleasant Pool as per the 2019 VanSplash Aquatic Strategy: https://parkboardmeetings.vancouver.ca/2019/20191028/DECISION-VanSplash-VancouverAquaticsStrategyReportBack-20191028.pdf
3. Include funding for Mount Pleasant Pool in the 2027-2030 Capital Plan.

****Comparing City Population, # of Outdoor Pools & People per Pool

Port Coquitlam, BC, pop. 63,297, 4 outdoor pools, 15,824 people per pool

Niagara Falls, ON, pop. 98,439, 5 outdoor pools, 19,688 people per pool

City of Montreal, PQ, pop. 1,780,000, 63 outdoor pools, 28,253 people per pool

Medicine Hat, AB, pop. 63,278, 2 outdoor pools, 31,639 people per pool

St. Catherine's, ON, pop. 140,370, 3 outdoor pools, 46,790 people per pool

Toronto, ON, pop. 2,832,718, 58 outdoor pools, 48,840 people per pool

Regina, SK, pop. 253,185, 5 outdoor pools, 50,637 people per pool

Burnaby, BC, pop. 274,425, 4 outdoor pools, 68,606 people per pool

Surrey, BC, pop. 600,911, 8 outdoor pools, 75,113 people per pool

Saskatoon, SK pop. 347,000, 4 outdoor pools, 86,750 people per pool

Winnipeg, MB, pop. 849,000, 8 outdoor pools, 106,125 people per pool

Ottawa, ON, pop. 1,070,889, 9 outdoor pools,  118,987 people per pool

Halifax, NS, pop. 431,416, 3 outdoor pools, 145,472 people per pool

Calgary, AB, pop. 1,665,000 8 outdoor pools, 208,125 people per pool

Edmonton, AB, pop. 1,060,667, 5 outdoor pools, 212,133 people per pool

Vancouver, pop. 681,420, 3 outdoor pools, 227,140 people per pool

Regina, SK, recently completed the Wascana outdoor swimming pool complex for $16.4 million. The project received $12 million from the Government of Saskatchewan's Municipal Enhancement Program (MEEP), and the City covered the remainder of the cost. It features a regenerative water filtration system, low consumption features, and recirculating spray pad to conserve water, a high-efficient water heating plant, solar panels, LED lighting, and variable speed pool pumps to conserve energy and reduce emissions. Approximately 30% of the energy for the facility comes from solar panels:

https://www.regina.ca/parks-recreation-culture/recreation-facilities/outdoor-swimming-pools-spray-pads/wascana-pool/

The following is excerpted from CBC News online: CBC News Kids Vote Results:

“The (Kids Vote) program, which the City of Vancouver initiated to familiarize kids with the democratic process, allowed children to fill out a ballot at advance polling stations.
Instead of choosing candidates, kids selected answers to four multiple-choice questions.
When asked how they like to spend their time in Vancouver, 45 per cent chose swimming at pools. Playing in parks and playground came in second at 32 per cent.”

Our Vancouver kids echo what we have known all along; that Vancouverites look to swimming and pools as a preferred form of healthy activity and recreation.

UPDATE: We continue to work enthusiastically with the Vancouver Park Board to support the maintenance and renewal of outdoor swimming pools. Two outdoor pools, Mount Pleasant and Marpole, have yet to receive full funding to bring these facilities to Vancouver residents. Let’s keep the momentum and also talk about extending the outdoor pool season through October!

For more information on outdoor pools in Vancouver, you can visit the website of our allies at:

https://vancouveroutdoorpools.org/