Frequently Asked Questions

Lifeguarding Academy has a number of examiner mentors on staff but due to the high demand, wait times to apprentice with a mentor could be long.
 

The best way to find other examiner mentors is to call Lifesaving Society and ask them to put you in contact with your specific area chair who would be able to contact the examiner mentors in your area for you.

There are a total of 3 courses that you need to take in order to become an instructor in Canada. They must be completed in the following order:

1. Bronze Medallion with Emergency First Aid & CPR B

2. Bronze Cross

3. Swim Instructors

Click here to see an interactive flowchart of the courses in order.

Candidates looking to become certified as Swim Instructors are required to have their Bronze Cross and be at least 15 years of age. 

Yes, you can! Candidates who successfully complete their course and are certified as swim instructors can begin working for both public organizations or through their own private courses.

The Swim Instructor certification allows candidates to teach the Lifesaving Society's Swim for Life program and it is the certification that is required by most major employer such as the YMCA or City of Toronto. Meanwhile, the Lifesaving instructor allows candidates to teach the Bronze levels; Rookie, Ranger, Patrol, as well as Bronze Star, Medallion, and Cross.

The examiners course allows instructors to be able to both evaluate and certify candidates in the courses that they teach. 

In order to become an examiner with Lifesaving Society, you must follow these steps:

1. Hold at least one instructor certification
2. Take the Examiners course
3. Apprentice on an exam or course with an Examiner Mentor

If you would like to apprentice on one of Lifeguarding Academy's courses, you need to fill out our co-teach form.

Candidates who are interested in teaching First Aid can do so by taking our First Aid Instructors course. Upon successful completion, award holders may teach the courses that they hold. Click here to sign up!

In order to become a first aid examiner with Lifesaving Society, you must follow these steps:

1. Take the First Aid Instructors course
2. Take the Examiners course
3. Apprentice on a full Standard First Aid course with an Examiner Mentor

If you would like to apprentice on one of Lifeguarding Academy's courses, you need to fill out our co-teach form.

In order to become certified as a National Lifeguard Instructor, you must take the following courses:

1. Lifesaving Instructor
2. National Lifeguard Instructor

The number of co-teaches may vary based on the discretion of the mentor. 

Yes, with the exception of standard first aid, certified Bronze & NL instructors can teach these courses without their examiner certification.

Instructor certifications can be recertified through the Society's credit system. Click here for the full instructions.

No you do not, you can still recertify your instructor level qualifications through the Society's Credit system. 

Experienced examiners can take the following steps to apply for the Examiner Mentor status.

1. Complete the application form and submit it to the Lifesaving Society.
2. Approved candidates will be contacted by their designated area chair to arrange the learning opportunity.
3. Following the learning opportunity, the area chair will decide whether you will be appointed as an Examiner Mentor.

In order to become a Lifesaving Society Instructor Trainer you need to take the following steps:

1. Hold your examiner certification with a minimum of 3 exams in your preferred stream or have at least 100 hours of experience teaching swim lessons (for Swim IT)
2. Register and attend a Trainer course
3. Apprentice on a trainer level course with an experienced Trainer

Note: The Instructor Trainer status allows experienced examiners to train & certify instructors.