Fredericton aquatics community hopes 2026 brings movement for new competition pool

Fredericton’s swimming community is hopeful there will be movement on a new competition pool in 2026.

The aquatics community in Fredericton is hoping 2026 will include meaningful movement towards a new competition sized swimming pool in the city.

The Sir Max Aitken Pool, inside the University of New Brunswick’s (UNB) Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium, was announced to be at the end of its lifespan in 2017.

It’s still operating, with temporary fixes that have been funded by UNB and the municipality.

The latest set of repairs happened this past fall for an air handling system, which saw the pool close for several weeks. When the pool reopened, it was with reduced capacity.

“It’s been uncertainty,” says Nathan White, spokesperson for the city’s FAST Swim Club, one of several aquatic organizations that are remobilizing in their long-held fight for a new pool. “We’re basically operating in crisis mode on a daily basis.”

Fredericton has two other indoor aquatic facilities: The YMCA of Fredericton and the Fredericton Indoor Pool. Right now, the Sir Max Aitken Pool is the only facility with the depth and length required to host competitions for races, diving and synchronized swimming events.

“We don’t know any day how long this pool can stay open,” says White. “We’re already under restricted hours, which means we have less pool time here, which means we have to have less programming or rent more expensive space.”

When the pool re-opened in October, UNB said the revised schedule at the Sir Max Aitken Pool would help to keep the facility open for as long as possible.

“The pool has exceeded its expected lifespan, and this reduction in usage is a proactive step to ensure continued access and reliability for our swim groups,” said the Oct. 2 notice.

Over the years, the fight for a new competition-sized pool in Fredericton has included petitions and protests at City Hall, as well as a pitch to turn the city’s once vacant Target department store into a temporary aquatics facility.

The latest financial figure pegs the cost of a new competition sized pool in Fredericton at $81.3 million.

The city’s attempts to bring the Capital Region Service Commission into the project wasn’t successful, after costs doubled from its earliest projections.

In September, the Fredericton YMCA released results from a viability study examining a proposed ‘Aqua-Plex’ at the location. The study found the Y’s existing pool infrastructure could support additions to make it competition sized.

In a statement, the city said it remained committed to building a new pool in 2026, adding there was nothing new to announce with any partner.

“Building a new aquatics facility is a priority for the city,” said municipal spokesperson Shasta Stairs in a statement. “However, it is a significant investment for partners, so these conversations take time.”

White said the city’s aquatics community is approaching the new year with guarded optimism, of conversations continuing at city hall.

“Many people have been told this for 10, 15 years, and have yet to see a project even start,” says White. “We can barely get these stop gap solutions in place to keep what’s here alive, let alone do we have any place for growth.”

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