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Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser urges Ontario’s gyms to switch to cohorts

Sep 21, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Researchers behind a for containing workplace COVID-19 outbreaks say fitness facilities can use the same methods to avoid the fate of , a superspreader event that saw 54 primary cases of the virus last month. 

“We have been watching the situation unfold in Toronto around gyms and believe that the use of bubbles … would help the situation,” said Tyler Williamson, one of the nine authors of the Sept. 30 report,

Williams and his co-researchers argue in the report that the use of cohorts or “bubbles” in a workplace can limit potential outbreaks to a small number of employees as long as employees only interact with the people in their given cohort. 

If one member of a cohort becomes sick, everyone exposed within that cohort self-isolates while the rest of the workforce continues to work.

Hayley Wickenheiser, who earned four Olympic gold medals as a member of the Canadian women’s hockey team, is currently attending medical school in Toronto and co-authored the Sept. 30 study. She believes that fitness facilities in regions of Ontario not under red zone restrictions can apply the same cohorting principles in two ways: separation in space and separation in time. 

While cohorting in space – partitioning one gym into multiple separate facilities and dividing customers and staff between them – might only be feasible for large, open-concept gyms, she said virtually any fitness facility can implement some degree of cohorting in time.

“If you sequester people into time slots, and if you can get people into a more regular schedule without going across times, then you can kind of contain the number of interactions that are taking place between people and reduce the chance that a spreader event will take place over different groups,” she said.

Wickenheiser said gyms where people complete self-guided workouts could accomplish this by dividing operating hours into time slots and having clients sign up for a dedicated, unchangeable time slot each week, so that the same clients are reliably at the gym at the same time.

Facilities that offer pre-scheduled group classes could create more airtight cohorts by having clients commit to a specific class at the same time each week with the same instructor, without the ability to attend a different class. Instructors could be limited to teaching the same one or two classes each week. So if a client in one class tests positive for COVID-19, only that instructor’s one or two classes are potentially impacted, rather than the entire studio.

While this strategy would limit flexibility for staff and clients, Wickenheiser believes it’s worth it to provide the ability to prevent a facility-wide closure.

“We all have to be able to give up a little and sacrifice and if that’s what it takes to keep gyms going,” she said.

Chelsi Rodrigues owns and operates Whole Health Strength and Fitness, a small fitness centre in Cambridge. She believes the system Wickenheiser and her co-authors recommend should be workable for most gyms the size of hers.

“It’s not unrealistic, what they’re proposing,” she said. “At the end of the day, I don’t think anyone wants to get the virus.”

Rodrigues already offers scheduled fitness classes for up to 10 participants and uses a software application to keep track of everyone who enters the facility. None of her staff or clients have tested positive for COVID-19.

Her biggest challenge would be in staffing. Most of her trainers teach two classes per week, while her own class schedule is full. In order to further limit her contact with clients, she would need to hire additional staff.

“It would be more of a challenge for me because I’d have to step back and have them come in more,” she said.

Brian Fehst sits on the board of directors of the Ontario Society for Health and Fitness. He also believes sole-proprietor fitness centres might find it financially challenging to separate staff into cohorts, but said most would be willing to adopt the new strategy if it were ever mandated by public health.

“I think we’re already seeing a lot of acceptance of what the guidelines are and the facilities are really buying into it,” he said. “They’re saying, ‘This is important to protect our community health, so we’re going to be compliant.’”

For more information about the province’s COVID-19 guidelines for fitness facilities, visit .

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How COVID stranded new Canadian residents and stalled immigration

Sep 20, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Going into 2020, thousands of people around the world had high hopes for a new life in Canada after getting their permanent resident visas. They sold their homes, quit their jobs and got ready to move to a new country that had invited them to come to live.

But then slammed the door in their faces.

Since mid-March, Ottawa has imposed strict travel restrictions against foreign nationals, including holders of permanent resident visas. Meanwhile the clock is ticking for many whose permanent visas have expired or are near expiry.

The federal government is working to restart the immigration system that faltered badly during this pandemic but the process has been slow and frustrating. Canada is falling far short of its immigration goals.

In today’s episode of This Matters, the Star’s immigration reporter explains what is going on. Fatima Camara, a teacher from Belarus, also joins to share her family’s story of being stuck in limbo after getting their permanent resident visas and packing up their old lives only to go nowhere.

Listen to this episode and more at or subscribe at , , or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts

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A spin class became a superspreader event. Why are fitness instructors excluded from workers’ compensation if they fall ill on the job?

Jul 26, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Back injuries, knee pain, shoulder problems — and now, .

They are daily risks faced by fitness instructors and personal trainers across the province. But unlike millions of employees in other sectors, gym staff are not entitled to workers’ compensation when they get sick or hurt on the job.

It’s a long-standing exclusion to the workers’ compensation system that critics say needs urgent change, especially in light of a that may have exposed upwards of 2,500 people to COVID. Two staff members at the studio contracted the virus.

“Our bodies are on the line,” said Toronto-based group fitness instructor Vidya Sri. “The laws are completely out of date.”

Under current provincial legislation, gyms and fitness studios are exempt from mandatory workers’ compensation coverage. That means they do not need to pay insurance premiums to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board — and their employees cannot access benefits following a workplace accident or illness.

Gyms can voluntarily opt into the workers’ compensation system. There are 1,653 fitness establishments in Ontario, according to Statistics Canada; of those, 24 have elected to provide compensation coverage to workers, data from the WSIB shows.

Coverage means workers are eligible for loss-of-earning or health-care benefits following a work-related illness or injury.

A 2019 report on working conditions in the Ontario fitness sector by Larry Savage, a professor of labour studies at Brock University, found nearly a third all instructors and trainers had sustained an injury on the job. Half reported not having paid sick days.

“The lack of WSIB coverage and paid sick days make gym and fitness club workers less willing to disclose illness or injuries out of fear of reprisal or loss of income,” Savage said.

“The pandemic only makes this bad situation worse by increasing the likelihood that clients and other workers will contract COVID-19 if gym and fitness club workers decide to come in to work sick in order to avoid loss of pay.”

As part of his research, Savage told the Star he made inquiries with the Ministry of Labour about the history of the gym exclusion but “no one could or was willing to explain” why it existed.

Around 76 per cent of Ontario workplaces are required to pay into workers’ compensation. Legislative change is needed to amend the list of excluded employers. When asked if the government is considering reform, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour said workers’ health and safety was its “top priority.”

“With only a handful of exceptions, those workplaces that aren’t subject to mandatory coverage can choose to purchase coverage from the WSIB,” the statement said.

Planet Fitness outlets account for 10 of the gyms that voluntarily signed up for coverage, according to the WSIB’s data. Other than F45 Guelph, part of a relatively new but popular fitness chain, none of the gyms that opted into the workers’ compensation system are major players. (Other establishments included the “Orillia Agricultural Society” and “Retro Rollers.”)

In response to questions from the Star, Hamilton SPINCO founder Michelle August said the company “launched one of the most comprehensive, robust and disciplined strategies to fight COVID-19,” and is “deeply committed to its team” but did not detail support available to infected employees.

“We know that there may be more questions, but at this time SPINCO will not provide further comment on this matter and instead, we will turn our undivided attention to working as expediently as possible with our public health agency,” August’s statement said.

GoodLife Fitness president and chief operations officer Jane Riddell said the company was not required by law to pay into WSIB, but has “developed a robust health and safety division and offers a benefits program that provides medical coverage.”

“GoodLife is firmly committed to the health, safety and well-being of all our associates,” Riddell said.

Michael Labovsky, a personal trainer at GoodLife, said while his employer provides a long-term disability program, staff don’t have short-term disability benefits — making unpaid leave the only option following most injuries or illnesses.

Unionized personal trainers at the gym have up to five paid sick days depending on tenure, but non-union group instructors have none. Many choose not to split the copay on GoodLife’s benefits program because they cannot afford it, Labovsky added.

“If you are well enough to be ambulatory, you are at work training clients,” said Labovsky, who is also president of the Toronto local of Workers United representing GoodLife personal trainers.

In the event of contracting COVID-19 on the job, most trainers would have to rely on federal income supports, said Labovsky. But workers’ compensation benefits are funded through employers’ insurance premiums — and don’t impact the public purse. (By linking premium rates and accident rates, the system is also meant to incentivize employers to keep workers safe.)

Even if the exemption isn’t fixed by lawmakers, Labovsky says GoodLife should voluntarily opt into the workers’ compensation system.

“It is a massive company and they employ so many people,” he said.

Sri, who has worked at numerous gyms for the past decade, said she has never had an employer who provided workers’ compensation coverage. And she has experienced the consequences first hand: in 2016, she developed nodules on her vocal chords due to the strain of in-class instruction. In addition to taking two months of unpaid leave for surgery, she says she paid at least $1,500 out of pocket for rehabilitation like vocal coaching, speech pathology and medication.

Gyms in Toronto recently closed back down as part of stricter lockdown measures mandated by the province — which is also reviewing COVID-19 protocols for the fitness sector after the SPINCO outbreak.

Sri says returning to work is particularly worrying for group fitness instructors. Most instructors hold multiple jobs and travel between several studios to earn a living, a higher risk activity amid the pandemic.

“The prospect of getting sick is very scary,” she said.

But for Sri, juggling several roles is a necessity: she estimates that relying on one group instructor job would earn her just $500 a month.

Precarity is an additional risk factor during the pandemic, said one GoodLife trainer who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

“Trainers will come to work with the flu,” the worker said. “That’s what this system forces us to do, because it’s either do that or don’t get paid … from a public health perspective, that’s not great.”

Sri said she feels relatively confident in the COVID precautions taken by gyms — but less so in the safety net afforded workers during the pandemic and beyond.

“WSIB is crucial for the work that we do,” she said. “When you think about where WSIB (is) mandatory for employers, you think construction, the textile industry. But we’re also putting our bodies on the line every single day.”

“We treat health and wellness as the best thing for our clients,” she added. “But employees don’t get the same benefit.”

Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a Toronto-based reporter covering labour-related issues for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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Midland’s Georgian Bay General Hospital addressing surgery backlog created by COVID-19 shutdown

Jun 25, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The surgical department at Georgian Bay General Hospital is back and operating at full capacity.

Dr. Vikram Ralhan, chief of staff at GBGH, said he hopes the return to 100 per cent will allow them to eliminate the backlog of surgeries and procedures that accumulated during the spring shutdown.

“There is still a bit of a backlog that we are working to catch up on. We are finding creative solutions to increase the number of cases we can do,” said Ralhan.

Elective surgeries and procedures resumed at the Midland hospital in mid-June. However, GBGH was only authorized to schedule the operating room at half its normal capacity.

In early November, the hospital was authorized to return to 100 per cent capacity, doubling the number of surgeries and procedures it can do.

“We are working collaboratively with our surgeons, nurses and hospital leaders to figure out what the best approach is to be able to address the backlog,” said Ralhan.

One of the challenges the hospital faces is working around the increased downtime between surgeries and procedures. That time has to be maintained in order to allow for proper cleaning and sanitization.

According to Ralhan, staff are discussing the possibility of extending the hours of the operating room to allow for more surgeries to be completed in a day, and possibly creating an endoscopy day on Saturdays to tackle that specific waiting list. 

They are also working on continuing to expand the GBGH surgical program.

Prior to the pandemic, GBGH opened up a second operating room two days a week, in addition to the primary operating room. 

“We are continuing to do that. We have a second OR open,” said Ralhan. “As long as there isn’t a ministry mandate to ramp down again, our hope is that we can continue on with our optimization and expansion plans.”

Increased COVID-19 case counts are forcing the hospital to reassess protocols. While it currently isn’t mandatory for surgical patients to receive a COVID-19 test prior to their procedure, that may change.

“We are evaluating that,” said Ralhan. “It’s a constant moving target; as case counts change, requirements change.”