I have been a student and instructor for Janet Barber Aquatics for many years. As a student, it was…read morea very positive, fun and friendly environment. Having much smaller class sizes compared to the town or YMCA classes, I was able to get more attention and develop faster. The quality, experience and energy of the instructors I had and continue to see are outstanding. As an instructor, having a smaller class allowed me to focus on my students progress a lot more then my experience with the YMCA. I was able to create a great connection with the student(s) and interact with the parent(s) to keep them up to date on their child's progress. The way Janet Barber Aquatics has designed the progress reports is brilliant through the use of star ratings. Instead of telling a child at the end of the term that they didn't pass (which can be de motivating for some) they are given a certain colour of star. The star indicates how many requirements they have completed in that level so far. This is also extremely beneficial for the next instructor as they will be able to target the areas the student needs improvement on. I highly recommend Janet Barber Aquatics!

My wife and I have two kids who have taken classes with Janet Barber Aquatics and we have seen…read morereally fantastic results. The one-on-one instruction gives kids the confidence to learn how to swim. We have especially seen great results with our son, who was initially apprehensive about swimming with his face in the water, jumping in, etc. The focused attention and care of his instructors gave him the confidence and skills to learn how to swim and do all of these things, and now there is nothing holding him back in the water. It has been very heartwarming to see such significant results. We would highly recommend Janet and her team!

Was assaulted here and a minor with me was assaulted by a grown man…read more ill Try to sum this up to the best of my ability. long story short. I was here with a student, training him at the basketball court. some man In his 40s was getting very frustrated that we kept beating him. so he grabs my neck and starts to choke me. it took maybe 4-6 other grown men to get him to stop. he then tried to assault the minor. Mind you over a game of basketball. and when lifetime brought us in to mitigate the issue they were great with all these empty claimed promises. they promised to ban the other member if I did not press legal charges. i Still have 3-5 witnesses that were there that day. many of them are current active members still. but regardless the matter. lifetime told me they would ban the other member. so I was content with that as I was a daily guest at lifetime most times 2-3 times a day. the staff there all know me and my family. i can have at least 10 workers there vouch for me that I would go at least 2 times a day 5/6 am and 7/9 pm everyday. Regardless I noticed the member lifetime told me they banned, was in fact not banned. is lifetime that greedy that they ignore an assault case they had on video on a minor and a guest Just for some extra money ? I cancelled my membership immediately after finding this out. I contacted Devin yesterday through email and he might have been the worst assist in history of customer reps. Anyways that's my 2 cents and I strongly advise you to pick another gym than lifetime. I would rather pay 2/3x more instead of being around a gym that's just greedy and cash hungry, they don't even value their guests. my entire family was enrolled here before 2010 and we stayed active for over 13 years. absolutely insane way This company looks at their clients. STAY AWAY FROM THIS GYM

Joseph is fantastic! He's energetic, welcoming, and teaches the cycling class with clear guidance…read moreand great motivation. He makes sure you're set up properly and supports you before, during, and after class.

Coaches are absolutely amazing!…read more We switched over from another club in the area and there is such a big difference! The coaches seem way more strict at first, but each child gets so much one-on-one attention, Because of that, not only did our kids improve - they both have developed a genuine passion for swimming and even set swimming goals for themselves. All of the swimmers are very supportive of each other and a lot of them actually look forward to practice. Definitely recommend switching to Dolphins to anyone who lives in the Burlington/Oakville area.

From the owner: The Dolphins Swim Team program strives to instill in young swimmers an understanding of, and…read moreappreciation for, such concepts as high self-esteem, personal accountability, constructive self-motivation, goal setting and goal achievement as these ideals relate to their success in training and in competition.

Great club for competitive swimming. The club has their own gym for dryland which is quite rare for…read morethe swimming clubs in the area. Coaches are all professional, knowledgeable, and approachable.

WARNING: Questionable Business Practices and Ineffective Governance…read more Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this club due to poor governance and what appears to be exploitative practices. QUESTIONABLE BUSINESS MODEL: In my opinion, their fee structure seems problematic: families pay high monthly fees (hundreds of dollars) AND are required to provide significant volunteer hours - with MORE hours required as your child advances. This double-burden approach appears designed to extract maximum value from families. MY FAMILY'S EXPERIENCE: Despite providing weeks of advance notice for a travel conflict and arranging a substitute volunteer through their own Community Coordinator (Jane Talbot), OAK imposed a $200 penalty based on policy language that I believe was misrepresented. BOARD GOVERNANCE FAILURE: After receiving dismissive responses from management, I attempted to escalate concerns to the Board of Directors, including President Mark Thompson. Despite multiple attempts to reach board members, I received zero responses. This complete lack of engagement raises serious questions about board oversight and accountability. SPECIFIC ISSUES I ENCOUNTERED: Policy Misrepresentation - Management claimed their policy requires "direct participation by the family member." After reviewing their complete Volunteer Incentive Program document, this exact phrase appears nowhere in their written policies. Inconsistent Staff Guidance - Their Community Coordinator confirmed our substitute arrangement satisfied requirements, but management later reversed this decision without clear explanation. Lack of Accountability - When I requested specific policy citations to support their position, Business Manager Jason Morawski provided none, despite multiple detailed requests. Board Non-Responsiveness - President Mark Thompson and other board members appear to ignore member concerns entirely, suggesting ineffective governance oversight. Poor Customer Service - Management showed what I perceived as dismissive and arrogant responses to legitimate policy questions, particularly disappointing given our family was dealing with a death during this period. GOVERNANCE CONCERNS: Based on my experience, the board appears to: - Provide no oversight of management decisions - Ignore member escalations completely - Allow arbitrary policy enforcement without accountability - Fail to respond to legitimate governance concerns DOCUMENTED CONCERNS: - Management appears unable or unwilling to cite specific written policies supporting their decisions - Staff assurances seem unreliable when contradicted by management - Board members (including President Mark Thompson) appear unresponsive to member concerns - No effective appeals process for disputed charges - Policies appear to be interpreted arbitrarily rather than consistently PATTERN I OBSERVED: - Collect high monthly fees from families - Require substantial volunteer commitments - Apply unclear policies that can be interpreted multiple ways - Dismiss member concerns without substantive responses - Board provides no oversight or accountability - Maintain charges even when unable to provide policy support RED FLAGS FOR OTHER FAMILIES: No board accountability - don't expect responses to escalated concerns Budget for unexpected fees beyond monthly charges Get all arrangements in writing - verbal confirmations may not be honored Demand specific policy citations for any charges Be prepared for dismissive responses from management and silence from board MY RECOMMENDATION: Based on my experience, I believe families should consider clubs that: - Have responsive, accountable board governance - Operate with clear, consistently applied policies - Treat families with respect during difficult times The combination of unaccountable management (Jason Morawski), non-responsive board leadership (President Mark Thompson), high fees, mandatory volunteering, and arbitrary policy enforcement creates what I believe is an exploitative environment with no oversight.

Way too many kids. The teacher doesn't give enough attention to any of them. My son would spend…read moremore time doing nothing than swimming.

We tried it...New swim school in town and were disappointed that all the hype seemed to be made up…read more The instructors had no clue how to teach stroke mechanics like the place we always went to for years. Well, we are sticking with our first choice. The renovations are looking fabulous but we go there for the knowledge more than the paint. It is a shame that no one except one place in Oakville really knows how to teach kids to swim properly and actually know how to fix problems in a stroke. Sorry Goldfish...back to OSA

This is a place where people are supposed to feel a sense of community and safe, especially…read morechildren. This location absolutely does not live up to those standards. My 13 year old daughter was using the gym there when a grown male began harassing her. Here are the facts to what happened and what the management's response was. I dropped my daughter off to do her work out at this location. Unfortunately, my wife and I were both in the middle of a project so was not able to stay with her but we were not worried as we felt that she was SAFE there. Near the end of her work out, she was approached by an adult male who asked her how long she was going to be. During her work out, she took a snap of herself to send to a friend as children do these days. She may have inadvertently got this male in the background. He became angry and asked her if she was taking pictures of him. When she tried to explain, he wasn't listening to her. He took his phone out and started recording her. It is unclear if it was at this point or later on when other members got involved the he called her fat and said she has a fat stomach. When he started recording her she Very Loudly told him Stop recording her and asked him WHY he was recording her. Her being loud is what drew the attention of the other members. 2 male members came to her aid as well as a female member. He became very belligerent towards the other member, tell them .... off. I was actually on the phone with my daughter at this point because she called me and I can hear this in the background. When I get there, she was already in the office with the female adult which aided her and some staff members. Shortly after I arrived, a Sergeant from Peel Region Police arrived to investigate. The Sergeant spoke with myself, the Female witness, at lease one of the male witnesses and the staff as well as the Adult male in question (once they were able to find him). No charges were able to be laid as there was not physical contact made. That is what we were told . I was told by the staff that there would be an incident noted on his file. That was not acceptable to me and I demanded that he be banned from the YMCA. I wanted him banned because not only did my daughter NOT feel safe and was afraid to go back because she might run into him again but I didn't want any other young people to possibly have a similar experience . They told me that only the program director or general manager would be able to do that. I sent the general manager an email that day (Saturday). Monday morning I called the center to speak with the Program Director who was not in. I left my information for him to call me back when he was to get in in the afternoon. After waiting and not getting any type contact by the management team, I called him back and was told that he was in a meeting. I was then informed that the General Manager would be dealing with this. I received an email later from her asking that we afford her some time to speak to her staff and investigate. I told her I appreciated her taking this matter seriously and told her about the 2 men and 1 lady who intervened on my 13 year old daughters behalf. I also told her that they spoke to her staff and that her staff on duty that day should have their information and that I would await her review. To recap the timeline, this incident happened on Saturday, I sent an email Saturday. Monday I had to contact the center instead of them contacting me. The General Manager asked me for a few day to review on Monday. Thursday afternoon just before 3pm, I had still not heard back from anyone so I sent another email to ask about the status. Just before 7pm she finally responded to me by tell me that she could call me "tomorrow" and to reply to her directly with a good time to call. I'm not sure as to why she had to say directly as my communication was directly to her unless she didn't want me to continue to tag the CEO of YMCA in the emails as well. She calls me the next day and tells me that my daughter won't have to worry about running into him "in the near future". I asked her what that means. I tell her that I assumed that means that he is suspended and not banned outright. She told me that she reviewed the footage and spoke with 2 witnesses and she said that they didn't hear anything prior to to my daughter very loudly saying "Why are you recording me? Stop recording me!" That is when they stepped in. She didn't speak to the lady as she deemed that she wouldn't have any information because she wasn't standing directly next to them. I pointed out the fact that that just because she wasn't STANDING right next to them doesn't mean that she didn't hear anything or wasn't observing from a distance. She then tells me that there are procedures that they have to follow. She tells me that in the footage, he wasn't any closer that 5 feet from her, like that is supposed to make any difference. Basically, they aren't going to do anything.

Someone stole my $30 water bottle at this location in the change room, and the staff won't do…read moreanything to ask anyone who took my bottle and call out the behavior that this is a crime, the staff keep saying its misplaced, but where is the one thats exactly the same, and why will this person take home a bottle when he didnt bring one in the first place. This place is so dumb and full of excuse and wont admit theft when as mentioned in other review dozens thef has already happened here this year and they should put posters with counts of theft reported to warn people never bring anything that has any value. And they tried to shut me up to tell people what happened to me. So disgusting. never again. Please be aware that people steal your stuff at YMCA. Just imagine how disgusting it is that you are in the same room with thieves. Worst waste of money and headach instead of having fun. Also please be aware that some people's locker got cut in the change room. They do nothing to prevent that from happening. I would suggest to go someplace with better security measures. Don't think it won't happen to you.

Really great facility overall. What stands out about this specific location is just how much space…read moreand variety there is. You aren't just stuck in a crowded weight room the pool is clean, the courts are well-maintained, and having access to the recovery zones after a heavy session is a huge plus. The front desk staff is always quick to check you in and out. Highly recommend if you want a complete gym.

Very disappointed with this LA Fitness location. Equipment stays broken for way too long, and…read morerepairs seem to be a very low priority. It's not just big machines either--even basic things like the water fountain were out of service for an unreasonable amount of time. For a gym that charges this much for membership fees, this level of maintenance is unacceptable. It feels like members are paying full price for half-functioning facilities. Communication is poor, updates are nonexistent, and there's no urgency to fix obvious problems.