VANCE: The pandemic is over — free Kits Pool!

Kits Pool — one of the most iconic public amenities in all of Canada— is still being run like it's March 2020.

The pandemic is over; the restrictions at Kits Pool are not.

We are talking about Vancouver's largest outdoor saltwater pool. A landmark. A place that has served this city's families, seniors, athletes, and newcomers for generations. And right now it is sitting empty, when it should have opened this past weekend.

For six years, Kits pool has been operating at a fraction of its capacity — with multiple 30 minute session splitting crossover closures (for cleaning?), and most egregiously — an entirely unnecessary advance online reservation system that functionally locks out anyone without a smartphone, a laptop, or the luxury of planning a “spontaneous swim” days in advance.

Let me be direct about who that hurts most. It hurts families who want to teach their kids to swim by spending a summer day at the pool — but don't have the devices or the data plans to navigate a reservation portal.

I know these families. They've stopped trying. That is an equity failure, and it belongs to Vancouver Parks Board.

The current system hurts low-income kids and teenagers, denying an entire generation the simple, spontaneous joy of showing up at a public pool on a hot day.

Kids don't plan group swims a week ahead. They just go — or, they used to.

It hurts seniors. It hurts newcomers. It hurts everyone who believed that a public pool meant public access.

We've been told this is about capacity management. About lineups. About a lifeguard shortage. I want to address that directly.

There is no lifeguard shortage. What there is, is an administration that doesn't understand the fundamental difference between outdoor seasonal guards and indoor pool guards — and has arbitrarily restructured their scheduling in ways that put front-line workers in an impossible position, and the public in a longer queue.

And if lineups are the concern? Get creative. A QR code at the gate. A text notification when space opens up. There are a dozen low-friction solutions that don't require turning Vancouver's most beloved public pool into a reservation-only private club.

 Reservations are for restaurants; Kits Pool is a public good.

 The ask today is simple, and it is reasonable: Restore full capacity. End the reservation system. End the 30-minute crossover closures. Extend the season — as we see shoulder season now VERY summer like.  Think April to October. And let this pool be what it was built to be — open, accessible, and free at the point of entry for every single person in this city.

Vancouver built Kits Pool for its people. All of them. Not just the ones with laptops and flexible schedules.

Open. The. Pool.

Jody Vance is a well-known international broadcaster, podcaster, and columnist.  She offers insightful commentary on local issues in British Columbia.