early childhood teacher

school program staff

activity leader

childcare provider

assistant teacher

YMCA of Greater Vancouver

Years of experience in Recreation, this without a doubt is the most politically charged and toxic environment.  No team atmosphere.  

Despite being billed as a non-profit organization, do not be fooled!  The YMCA is 100% profit driven, from their budget expectation to the expectation that staff who are paid below industry standards give back a portion of their pay cheque to the "strong kids" program.   Less than 3% of retrieved payroll funding goes towards the program.   If an employee, volunteer or member do not supply a donation, they are either hounded relentlessly, or seen as not a team player.

Senior Management is disengaged, and unaware of the goings on at the center level, inexperience and a code of apathy prevent or make change challenging and delayed.

Members are not a priority, continual cost cutting measures to ensure that the development of future sites are funded.

Membership managers are not in compliance to access and diversity, nor the understanding and assisting of mental health issues and the importance of community involvement.

Great Job, if you have a low skill set and are not looking for advancement or to have an impact on change.

Looking to leave or have an impact on the community,  seek out employment at one of the greater vancouver community associations, or city opportunities.

Not a bad environment. Friendly with some good teams around you. There was a spirit of cooperation. If you didn't know something, someone would show you, no problem.

Management was a varied experience, as managers came and went. They normally manage more than one program. Some would know your program and working with them would be a positive experience, others might not which wasn't good.

Work place culture tended to be good. A fair amount of favouritism and nepotism it must be said.  

Hardest part of work would exist in what I've previously described. Listening to verbose mutual appreciation in meetings. Having to follow ideas from management that just didn't work. 

Best part of the job is a certain degree of freedom which allows you to use your experience, and give your best! 

Having said this, all YMCA's have different character, and departments and programs differ. This is just a reflection of one personal experience.

Worked at the Y for about 4 years as an ECE then worked my way up as a Team Lead. The first few years were fun and I met a few people I still keep in touch with. The first Supervisor I had was really supportive and my Manager at the time was too. Things started to fall apart and my Supervisor left, my Manager went on a leave and I left to go to another centre in a leadership role. It was exciting at first but management expects you to do EVERYTHING as a Team Lead - work on the floor, do the admin work, etc. Management only comes around when it's convenient for them. I barely received any support in my new role and became burnt out. Work-life balance was non-existent. Everyone I know that still works there is burnt out and unimpressed with management. So glad I left and now at a job that I don't lose sleep over.

Honestly working with kids / parents / public is very stressful. It is demanding, you have to practice lots of conflict resolution and there is a large work load. But the people you work with, and the relationships you build with kids and parents make it so worth it. There is tons of opportunity for training, endless support from management and mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities. 

I would 10/10 recommend this job. I love everything the YMCA stands for and the people you get to work along side with are so friendly and open.

But I would not recommend this job if you do not have tough skin, don't handle sudden change, constructive criticism or high emotions well (from adults and kids)

The Connections program at Robert Lee YMCA serves one of the most vulnerable sectors: temporary foreign workers. It is designed to connect people to community, engage them in activities that promote integration and build confidence in basic language and social interaction skills. 
The amazing and friendly staff and volunteers strive to provide a welcoming and respectful environment, within current established health and safety guidelines. 
Participants' review show above average satisfaction level.  
A lot of work to put together this program, but when I see smiles on our participants' faces, it feels rewarding. 

They will treat you the same way they treated the last person that held your role. You will learn all about minimum employment requirements, minimum health & safety requirements and what minimum management support looks and feels like. The hundreds of employees let go during the pandemic would suggest that the executive team take the YMCA’s nations leadership program as they clearly need a refresher on how to do the right thing, put people first or lead by example. They should have resigned due to their failure to lead and follow their own values but politically charged dictators rarely hold themselves accountable. There are so many other better places to work - keep looking. 

I can't even think about one good thing about working at Y. They only care about earning money and increasing their numbers and then they will call themselves Y family, there is no family! Managers are awful without any knowledge of management. Even managers will gossip about other managers and workers in your face. Toxic and gossipy environment. No one wants to stay at the Y. Save yourself and don't work there. They can easily change your work culture to a toxic version! 
I went there with a positive attitude and all I have is mental issues.
Once you are done working there, they will show you their true colors.

The best and only positive point of working there,  working with kids is so fun and exciting. You might have few challenging kids in your program, but build your relationships with them and problems solved. 
But in general the most toxic place I have ever worked in. 
Management is so disrespectful to staffs. They do not value your job there. 
Management team is so poor in experience and have no idea what is going on in their programs. 
Lots of turnovers, which shows no one is happy there. 
It’s good for getting experience for short period of time, if you are ok with modern slavering!!!!



A very varied role. Doing everything from leader and managing outdoor activity safety, site maintenance and hosting events such as weddings or conferences to basic cleaning and organising. 

Working at a camp isn't all fun, you're usually expected to work hours longer than most jobs or more days than most jobs, however you get to gain a lot of skills. It helps you develop problem solving skills as well as gives you a lot of experience working both as a team and independently. 

You get to meet and work with new people in new environments as well as being an important part of child development and creating memories for countless participants of all ages.

Working here only makes me feels like a salesman not a trainer. Management only cares about hitting the sales goal for training packages, employees and clients are not the priority. If you don't hit the sales goal manager will be constantly trash talking and assuming you're doing a bad job as a trainer or not doing anything at all. Also they expect you to stay in the gym and work without pay to get more clients even if you don't have any shifts. Management does not allow employees to take breaks if they are working alone. Generally, speaking the organization is internally corrupt and does not provide any employee training, instead they will throw you in.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Early childhood teacher 602 salaries reported	$30.23 per hour
School program staff 305 salaries reported	$22.25 per hour
Activity leader 181 salaries reported	$22.38 per hour
Childcare provider 34 salaries reported	$33.59 per hour
Assistant teacher 157 salaries reported	$20.46 per hour

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