Minimum age for children to swim alone in public pools raised from 6 to 8
Young unaccompanied swimmers won't be allowed to access public pools in Montreal unless they meet a certain set of criteria, recently updated by the city in the wake of several drowning incidents.
For one, the minimum age to access a public pool facility without a parent or guardian has been raised from six to eight years old.
In addition, if the eight-year-old does not know how to swim, they will only be allowed to get in the pool without supervision if they meet a height requirement.
According to the city's size requirements, a child must be 15 centimetres taller than the deepest section of the shallow end of the pool.
In some cases, the height requirement varies by pool facility and borough.
Kids at the pool alone will also be expected to be able to use the bathroom by themselves.
Rules evolving
The criteria for children to access Montreal's swimming pools has changed in recent years.
Former mayor Denis Coderre's administration reviewed pool regulations in 2017 and said six-year-olds could swim alone, as long as they met a minimum height requirement and knew how to swim.
Before 2017 there was no set age for children to use a city pool without a guardian present, only a standard height requirement.
The decision to raise the minimum age was applauded by the Quebec Lifesaving Society.
"At six years old, most children aren't 1.2 metres, while at eight years old, the child is taller. If they can't touch the bottom in certain places and they don't know how to swim, the risk of [drowning] is more significant," said the group's director Raynald Hawkins.
He said public pools shouldn't be treated like day camps and, at the end of the day, "the best pair of eyes to watch a child belong to their parents."
The city of Montreal is responsible for 48 indoor pools and 74 outdoor pools.
Multiple drowning deaths in 2018
There have been a series of drowning deaths this summer involving young people.
A 10-year-old boy was found unconscious in a Ste-Julienne private lake in June. He died on the way to the hospital.
This month two children have drowned in Montreal — one in an Ahuntsic-Cartierville pool and another at a private pool in Saint-Leonard.
