early childhood teacher

childcare provider

swim instructor

program specialist

personal trainer

YMCA of Greater Toronto

I have worked full-time for the YMCA of Greater Toronto for approximately 9 years.  In that time, I have had the opportunity of working four different roles across different program areas.  There is definitely opportunity for lateral movement as well as growth.  I would say be prepared to work hard and contribute to your team as expectations are high.  You will be expected to push yourself to continue to improve.  These high expectations are rewarded with great benefits, family and work life balance, a great work environment and great colleagues.

I read something recently that said that you can determine a lot about an employer by the way they treat you during the COVID-19 pandemic.  This has been a stressful and challenging time for everyone including the Y who has lost much of its revenue.  

Yes, I was temporarily laid off for a period of time before being able to return to work.  During my layoff, I received daily communication from my direct supervisor, Senior VP,  Human Resources and the CEO including detailed information on the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit.  Additionally, the YMCA of GTA topped up the CERB benefit to 80% of my salary and continued to pay for my medical and dental benefits.  My supervisor would call me just to see how I was doing and make sure that my family and I were okay.  I still felt like I was part of the YMCA team.

After approximately 3 weeks of layoff, I was called back to work as the YMCA of GTA was approved to participate in the Canadian Wage Subsidy Program and I will be topped up to 90% of my salary.  Since returning the Y has set up additional supports to assist its employees during this stressful time.  This includes a hotline we can call for daily updates, access to COVID 19 resources through our LMS, online fitness classes and mindfulness workshops.  Additionally, I continue to receive consistent updates from my direct supervisor, Senior VP, Human Resources as well as the CEO.  

In addition to doing all this for its employees the YMCA of GTA continues to be there to support the community and to step up in this time of need.  I feel very grateful to be a part of an organization who stands by its core values in both good times as well as in times of crisis.

The only good thing I can say about my work experience at YMCA Durham Employment & Community Services were my coworkers. My coworkers were true team players, very supportive, and I definitely learned a lot from them. However, the Management team was the main issue throughout my work experience. 

The Management team at YMCA Durham Employment & Community Services made things harder than they were. There would be lots of micromanaging, including being particular on choice of words used to communicate with clients. Management would claim to give “meaningful feedback”, but would deliver to staff in a demeaning manner. Additionally, Management would exaggerate on minor errors that were easily fixable. They would even resurface past issues that were already discussed and resolved. Would fail to give credit for hard work that was successfully accomplished. Constant broken promises from Management to develop better working relationships with staff. Unrealistic expectations from Management to meet targets/numbers has caused high turnover, in addition to high stress and burnout. 

Overall, the work culture is awful due to Management’s poor behaviours, attitudes, and practices. Management has no care for the wellbeing and feelings of their staff members. They only care about the numbers to gain funding. The Management team are dismissive when they are done with you and/or when your employment ends. A bad work culture does not give good results for meeting organizational targets and goals.

Stay away!!!- that is my best piece of advice. The employment sector is terribly unorganized. Staff are OVERWORKED AND SEVERELY underpaid. Retention is so poor it’s not even funny. This is the lowest paying non profit charity organization. It’s a joke what they pay you and the expectations they have. Processes are super outdated and not modern at all. In regards to management - I would say it has been the worst managers I’ve had in my whole professional career. Multiple employees have complained about management and improper practices by them to HR and nothing was done. They put people who have no managerial experience in charge and do not provide adequate training for these people. Previous manager was the worst manager I have ever had - was extremely micromanaging and treated people as if they were incompetent. They practiced severe favouritism. Fudged numbers, forged signatures etc... I could go on and on. The pay is so below what we should be paid in comparison to other similar organizations such as YES employment or Job Start. Also, there is no room to grow within the organization. Literally NONE at all unless you are a “favourite” and put in a management role, which is unlikely and to be honest not worth it for what the pay is for managers. I could go on and on about how terrible of an experience it has been but overall, I would suggest not working here and find somewhere else!!! 
One good thing is that the staff and team is friendly.

Our center provides care for children 18 months to 12 years of age. We provide full day child care for children 18months to 3.8 years and before and after school care (including PA days) to kindergarten and school age children.Each day is different and never the same. I greet the children and families, answer and re-direct parent phone calls, complete center tours and new registrations.  Coaching and mentoring staff is a huge portion of my day to ensure quality child care is constantly being provided. We have created a family like environment where the staff can rely on one another and support each other throughout the day. The most enjoyable part of my day is being able to interact with the children, families and the staff and seeing the impact we are making in the lives of the children we care for. As an educator and supervisor building strong health relationships with the children sets the tone for the day, and creating a relaxing and inviting environment with such a positive team is the icing on the cake.

As an Early Learning Facilitator it was one of the most stressful places to work. Ratios are really important but you will be placed with 8-10 children and one child with autism climbing up furniture can be in your group and you will never get support. If you ask for support via Walkie Talkie (which are used to communicate at YMCA’s) you will never get any support. The supervisor will say”You will just have to deal with it”. The school age children are wild. You are expected to give instructions but if they don’t listen you are not allowed to raise your tone, even if in compromises the child’s safety.  The supervisor will say that raising your tone is NOT ALLOWED, even if it is slightly raised like a school teacher. Working in impoverished communities is much harder. Expect to also assist in food preparation for the kids and putting dishes in the dishwasher. A tip is try to use the experience to bridge into working for your municipality and/or school boards, but do not tell your current supervisor, get references from elsewhere.

YMCA Scarborough has the worst management team of all time.
the management team has no idea what goes on in and outside of the office. Management does  not take pride in good employees who work extra hard to achieve there audit goals. YMCA Scarborough management  only cares about budgets and not the people or there employees. However what keeps the YMCA office going is the employment team which works together to accomplish management goals. Therefore they are always stressed out and under paid however still deliver great team work.

Management and employees have no communication with one another  and employees  are often put down because Scarborough management is to busy and doesn't embrace or like change. Management is very much stuck in there old  ways and is  not exactly educated on what's new in the society, they figure there employees to work in and progress in. 

Staff usually are the ones to help one another when the work load becomes over whelming and with great team work, work is delivered on time and accomplished.

This job gives you great experience with child and their families. You create great bonds and build a real connection within the CYW field. Unfortunately the management solely caters to the families and doesn’t care much about the staff. This job doesn’t have a union or incentives or bonuses, forget about a raise here. I started as a supply and worked my way up , working as a supply I noticed that the current 2022 director for the south etobicoke Ymca doesn’t care about staff at all. The job culture is depressing and draining , staff are so unhappy and get thrown all over the place to different sites due to staff constantly quitting. This job is like a revolving door , you’re in and you’re out forget about asking for a reference from anyone working here they will not come through for you. The pay is garbage as a newbie in the field ECE or CYW I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. It’s just the the name that’s attractive , you think you’re joining a big great company until you actually get there and realize that this place is a sick joke.

I will always remember that day when I pointed a YMCA Newcomer/Employment Centre to my husband telling him that is where I would like to avail of newcomer services because that day changed my life, I was YMCA-fied!!!  
I have been with the YMCA for close to 8 years - started as a client (newcomer) then volunteered and since then have had two roles. I have been blessed to have worked with really supportive colleagues who work with passion, enthusiasm and sincerity. Everyone is valued as a team member, everyone is valued as a contributor - Teamwork makes the dream work as my manager would always say/remind us!
As we thread the current crisis brought about by the current pandemic, the management, my manager - they have been my silver lining! They all have been there connecting with everyone, offering support and making sure the staff is aware of what is happening.
I am blessed to be a part of the YMCA and I am and will always be grateful! I strongly encourage you to consider applying to the Y!

I worked with the YMCA for 6 summers and was fired without cause as a director, because someone higher up who did not experience my position or my site personally did not like me. I was never given any warnings (as required for such a dismissal) and was not given any reasoning for my dismissal, despite hearing things about me that were untrue. I was never spoken to about any alleged issues either. I was treated extremely unfairly all summer but was told to “deal with it” on multiple occasions. No one was ever able to give me a reason for my termination and I have yet to find out what I did wrong or if it was just unjustified.

You get paid well for the tasks that are expected of you, however when you factor in the tasks that are not "expected" for you to do, but only makes sense to do as you are the boss, it doesn't add up well. For example, for the  most part, there is work life balance, unless things happen where you're forced to work through a Saturday or Sunday for a few hours (again this is only if you haven't had sufficient time during the week to do these tasks. Most of the things you would do on a weekend are just to prepare for the upcoming week, but if you had an easy Friday and sufficient time during the day, you could get all your prep work done). Basically, the major tasks that are outlined in your contract and interview and trainings are all the things I would say make sense in relation to the pay. It's the little things that get thrown at you that make you think "I don't think this is part of my job description and why am I the one doing this.. I should really get paid more for all the work I do". 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Early childhood teacher 43 salaries reported	$25.63 per hour
Childcare provider 64 salaries reported	$24.99 per hour
Swim instructor 46 salaries reported	$21.91 per hour
Program specialist 32 salaries reported	$48,585 per year
Personal trainer 30 salaries reported	$21.79 per hour

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