Toronto's Pools And Splash Pads Are Opening Just In Time For Canada Day

Bring on those poolside summer days. Mayor John Tory announced on Monday that Toronto's pools are opening this week, along with spray pads, wading pools and splash pads. The best part is that they'll be ready to go before Canada Day.

"Splash pads will start to be up and running as early as Wednesday with 15 outdoor pools set to start opening on Friday and others to follow on Saturday," said Tory.

Wading pools, however, won't reopen until July 1. Narcity has reached out to the City for information about which pools will be opening and when.

“Today is good news for Toronto and the many businesses who have been patiently waiting to open their doors again," reads the city's statement.

"The City of Toronto is ready to oversee the safe restart of some services and the partial reopening of many businesses following the provincial announcement."

"The progress we are seeing in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in our community has led to this moment," he added.

Tory didn't extend the sentiment to this weekend's beach-goers, though. The mayor called out the crowds that showed up to Woodbine Beach and Cherry Beach for disregarding social distancing rules.

"Over the weekend, we saw a number of crowds on our beaches. This raised two issues, concerns from the standpoint of health about physical distancing and concerns about litter," said Tory during the briefing.

The city will be doubling its staff presence in these areas, said the mayor, and more bylaw officers have been dispatched to ensure that people are following the rules.

However, he says that it shouldn't have to come to this.

"The bottom line is that we shouldn't have to double the staff and shouldn't have to have clean up blitzes, simply because some people have decided to have a big beach party during a health emergency and leave tons of garbage all over the beach before they left."

It's safe to say that this announcement is a welcome relief for Torontonians, who have been dealing with sky-high temperatures in recent days.

It has been so hot, in fact, that the city's air quality is considered high risk and potentially dangerous. Environment Canada also says that heat warnings could return.