Image: File photo, Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre, via Recreation Excellence

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Rec centre funding

YMCA asks for $37,000/month more funding in 2025 to run Chilliwack rec centres, outdoor pool

Apr 22, 2025 | 9:29 AM

CHILLIWACK — When the YMCA of B.C., now known as YBC, won the municipal contract to operate two rec centres and an outdoor pool in Chilliwack in summer 2022, it did so with the lowest bid of just over $10 million.

But in light of a recent financial review conducted by the YBC itself, the organization has now revealed that its Chilliwack operations have been running a deficit.

According to a staff report from Carol Marleau, manager of recreation services and corporate wellness for the City of Chilliwack, the YBC board conducted a financial review of its contract with the city that concluded its Chilliwack operations have been running at a deficit over the past two years. The shortfall has been subsidized by other YMCA branches across the province.

In consultation with city staff, YBC says the deficit originates from increased programming, extended facility hours, and the resulting rise in mandatory staffing and maintenance costs. Due to the operating deficit, YBC is asking for an increase in the management fee from the City of Chilliwack for 2025, retroactive to January.

City staff have reviewed the financial documentation and annual reports submitted by YBC and recommend a $37,000 per month increase to the management fee in order to meet the city’s requested expansion of facility hours and programming opportunities.

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Chilliwack City Council will review the request at its meeting today, Tuesday, Apr. 22 at 2 p.m.

Image: File photo of Cheam Leisure Centre pool, via Recreation Excellence

In summer 2022, the five-year bid from YMCA B.C., as it was known then, was considered a deal versus a much higher five-year RFP bid of $13,163,288.04 from Recreation Excellence, the former operator. A six-member evaluation team examined key components in the request for proposal paperwork and considered such technical criteria as proposed programming, facility maintenance strategies, community engagement, key facility management personnel, corporate and management experience and references, financial expertise, and employee recruitment, training, retention and wage strategies.

Marleau wrote in her report that YBC has consistently extended both its programming and facility operating hours. To meet provincial safety standards, increasing the number of lifeguards has been a necessary and unavoidable cost associated with each additional hour of operation, she said. This requirement is especially challenging at the Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre, where the facility’s layout results in more shadows and blind spots that demand additional oversight.

Marleau also said extended hours mean higher staffing needs across the board, including maintenance personnel to manage increased bather loads, as well as additional customer service and custodial staff. With the inclusion of additional guards and staff, there has been a noticeable improvement in client and community satisfaction, particularly in the ability to offer and successfully complete more swim lessons. In some cases, registration rates have reached as high as 80 per cent. For example, swim lessons had over 500 combined registrants in March 2025.

While extended facility hours have offered greater flexibility, they have not directly resulted in increased revenue, as they often serve to accommodate existing clients rather than attract new ones. As a result, the Chilliwack operations have required financial support from other YBC branches, Marleau wrote in her report.