Lifeguard and Life Saving Programs

Develops swimming proficiency, lifesaving skills, and personal fitness. Candidates refine their stroke mechanics, acquire self-rescue skills, and apply fitness principles in training workouts. Bronze Star is excellent preparation for success in Bronze Medallion and provides a fun introduction to this lifesaving sport.

Requirements: 8+ (Swim Patrol experience recommended but not required).

Challenges the candidate both mentally and physically. Judgment, knowledge, skill, and fitness – the four components of water rescue – form the basis of Bronze Medallion training. Candidates acquire the assessment and problem-solving skills needed to make good decisions in, on, and around the water. Bronze Medallion is a prerequisite for assistant lifeguard training in Bronze Cross.

Requirements: 13+ or Bronze Star certification (need not be current).

Begins the transition from lifesaving to lifeguarding and prepares candidates for the responsibilities of assistant lifeguards. Candidates strengthen and expand their lifesaving skills and begin to apply the principles and techniques of active surveillance in aquatic facilities. Bronze Cross emphasizes the importance of teamwork and communication in preventing and responding to aquatic emergencies. Bronze Cross is a prerequisite for advanced training in the Society’s National Lifeguard and leadership certification programs.

Requirements: Bronze Medallion and Emergency First Aid certification (need not be current).

The National Lifeguard certification builds on the fundamental skills, knowledge and values of the Lifesaving Society to develop the practical skills and knowledge required by lifeguards. National Lifeguard is the industry-accepted standard for lifeguards in Canada. National Lifeguard education is designed to develop a sound understanding of lifeguarding principles, good judgment and a mature and responsible attitude toward the role of the lifeguard.

Requirements: 15+, Bronze Cross Certification (need not be current), and Standard First Aid (need not be current). 

Through classroom learning and in-water practice, the Lifesaving Society Assistant Instructor course prepares candidates to help certified instructors with swimming and lifesaving classes.

Requirements: Must be 14 years of age by the end of the course and have a Bronze Cross Certification (need not be current).

The Lifesaving Society Swim Instructor course prepares the candidate to teach and evaluate basic swim strokes and related skills. Candidates acquire proven teaching methods, a variety of stroke development drills and correction techniques. Current swim instructors teach and certify candidates in all levels of the Swim for Life program.

Requirements: 15 years of age by the end of the course, Bronze Cross Certification (need not be current) and Instructor Pack. 

The Lifesaving Society Lifesaving Instructor course prepares individuals to organize, plan, teach and evaluate lifesaving and first aid skills and resuscitation techniques in the Society’s lifesaving and First Aid awards. Because the society’s first aid courses are recognized by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, the Society complies with the WSIB’s request that only first aid instructors’ teach WSIB approved courses. Successful candidates receive two certification cards: Lifesaving Instructor and Emergency First Aid Instructor.

Requirements: 15 years of age by the end of the course, Bronze Cross (need not be current) and Instructor Pack.

The Examiner Course is the first step in the three-step process to be appointed as an examiner for the Society, and prepares candidates to successfully apprentice as an Examiner on the exam of their choice. The Examiner Course builds on the evaluation experience that candidates have attained in the instructor evaluated content.

The Lifesaving Society’s Standard First Aid Instructor course is designed to provide Lifesaving Instructors with the knowledge and resources required to organize, plan, and deliver Lifesaving Society First Aid awards up to and including Standard First Aid and CPR-A, -B, -C.

Required Materials: Instructor Manual, First Aid Award Guide, Canadian First Aid Manual, and First Aid Instructor Resource CD must be purchased directly from the Lifesaving Society.

The National Lifeguard Instructor course provides candidates with an understanding of the principles and practices on which the National Lifeguard program is based and explores teaching approaches and techniques appropriate for National Lifeguard candidates.

Required Materials: National Lifeguard Instructor Notes and resource CD must be purchased directly from through the Lifesaving Society.

For deck-level supervisory staff, the Aquatic Supervisor course provides the knowledge and skills, beyond National Lifeguard certification, to manage a safe aquatic environment.

Prerequisite: National Lifeguard or Swim Instructor or Lifesaving Instructor certification and 100 hours experience as a lifeguard and/or instructor. Prerequisites need not be current.

Required Materials: Guide to public pool must be purchased directly from the Lifesaving Society.

The Level 1 course blends aquatic safety management – including regulatory requirements – with the essential knowledge of facility operation. This introductory course provides pool operators with the knowledge and resources to operate and maintain swimming pools in accordance with provincial health regulations.

Required Materials: Course materials are not provided and must be purchased from the Lifesaving Society.

The Trainer course is the first step in the three-step process to be appointed as a Trainer for the Society. This course provides candidates with an understanding of the expectations and requirements to teach instructors, and prepares participants to successfully apprentice as a Trainer on the Instructor course(s) of their choice.

Required Materials: Trainer Manual must be purchased directly from the Lifesaving Society.