Way more visits to Yellowknife’s new pool – but the costs are up, too

The good news? Yellowknife’s new aquatic centre is generating far more visits than the old pool. The bad news? That comes at a cost.

With the help of some federal funding, the city paid just over $70 million for the aquatic centre, which opened earlier this year.

Figures provided to city council this week suggest that, as you’d expect and as prior councils forecast, the new pool is a far more attractive proposition to residents than the old one.

“The Ruth Inch Memorial Pool on average had 4,000, sometimes 5,000 people a month,” city director of community services Grant While told councillors during budget deliberations.

In May, with the new aquatic centre open, “we had 15,500,” he added.

June, July and August all recorded around 15,000 visits. September, October and November recorded about 10,000 each month.

White said the number of flexi passes sold for use at city facilities similarly increased markedly once the aquatic centre opened.

“Our revenue on our passes is way up, our visitors are way up, and our rant-and-raves are fantastic,” White said, referring to Yellowknife Facebook groups where residents rant or rave (ordinarily the former) about anything they like.

White even read out one Facebook post, in which a resident called the aquatic centre “my new favourite place in town,” before Mayor Ben Hendriksen shut down further recitation and moved the meeting on.

Pool will lose money but sponsor on horizon

While the opening of the new centre is considered a major municipal success, it’ll come at an ongoing cost.

Running the old pool cost about $2.4 million in 2024. Running the new one – which is much bigger and has more facilities – is expected to cost $5.2 million this year, rising to $5.6 million by 2028.

Wages alone related to the aquatic centre are up from $1.6 million to $3.2 million. In dollar value, more than three times the fuel is being consumed by the new facility.

Deputy mayor Rob Warburton pointed that out during this week’s budget talks.

“This is a shining example of us focusing highly on the asset and not on the operations,” Warburton said.

“I was in town when we had the discussion on the pool. I supported it. There was very little to no conversation around the operational impact.

“In the future, when we’re talking about facilities and assets, I encourage council and future councils not to think about the capital money. That’s actually not what bothers me. It’s the operational costs till the end of time that we are deciding on.”

Council colleague Cat McGurk did quietly point out, following Warburton’s statement, “that the revenue is also up, too.”

Aquatic centre user revenue is expected to reach $937,000 in 2026, up from $424,000 in 2024, the old pool’s last full year.

If that comes to pass, revenue will have increased by 120 percent while expenses will have increased by 119 percent. Even so, the pool is forecast to operate at a $4.3-million deficit in 2026 (the old pool’s revenue didn’t come close to covering its expenses, either).

One thing that could change some of the math is a forthcoming sponsorship deal.

Power company Atco, which part-owns Yellowknife electricity distributor Naka Power NWT, is set to enter into a long-term deal that will rename the facility the Atco Aquatic Centre. The broader area – home to tennis courts, a curling club and a hockey rink – will be called the Naka Community District.

The value of that deal has yet to be made public and its impact was not reflected in the budget. An announcement is expected in early 2026.

“We did reach an agreement in principle and we’re just fine-tuning it,” city manager Stephen Van Dine said this week.