Pool Closure Update

We thank the community for your patience. Our goal remains to reopen the pool as quickly and safely as possible. We know the pool closure has been extremely disruptive, and we want to ensure the community that staff have been putting every effort towards a path to reopening with the regulator, Vancouver Coastal Health.

We are now able to provide an update on our progress over the course of the past few weeks.

The District worked in close coordination with VCH to determine the required next steps for reopening.  The path to regulatory approval of any measures put forward by the District, interim or otherwise, requires a signed and sealed professional engineer’s report supporting the proposed solution. As a result the District engaged a Professional Engineer to oversee and report on Dynamic Coefficient of Friction testing on February 28, 2025.  Testing was completed in accordance with standards set by the Terrazzo, Tile and Marble Association of Canada and the American National Standards Institute. The District received a report on March 10 which confirmed that acceptable slip resistance measurements were achieved on the floor tiles, meeting both relevant Canadian and American specifications. These measurements, and the supporting documentation, form the basis of the District’s request for reopening the pool.

These results have been submitted to Vancouver Coastal Health in the form of a signed and sealed professional engineers report, and we are anticipating acceptance of these findings and being able to announce a re-opening plan in the near future.

“I’m happy that our team has found a way through what has been an extremely challenging Vancouver Coastal Health regulatory process,” says District of Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford. “We understand the impacts the closure has had on staff, pool user groups and the broader community and look forward to welcoming everyone back to the pool as soon as possible.”

The Steam Room unfortunately does not meet acceptable anti-slip levels as confirmed by the most recent testing and is expected to continue to remain closed. The reopening of the pool is a primary focus, and we will continue to work on developing remediation plans for the steam room as a secondary priority. 

Next steps will require further collaboration with VCH, as well as operational considerations (filling the pool, testing levels, etc.) and recalling and rehiring staff. 

We will provide a further update on Monday, March 17 with as much new information we can provide.

We sincerely thank the community for your ongoing patience throughout the closure. We understand impacts of the closure on our staff, user groups and community, and we continue to work diligently to re-open the pool as quickly and safely as possible to get back to serving the community with this important and well-loved recreational asset.

For more information and FAQs regarding the Pool Closure, please continue to visit Pool Updates and FAQ at squamish.ca/pool.

March 13, 2025