By Sheldon Spackman

Call To Reconsider

Thousands sign petition to have small gyms open sooner in Alberta’s relaunch plan

May 11, 2020 | 8:10 PM

A petition calling on the Alberta government to speed up the reopening of small fitness facilities in the province is gaining momentum.

As of Monday, over 10,000 people had signed the petition asking to reopen small boutique-style fitness centres in Alberta as part of Stage 2 of the province’s relaunch plan.

Currently, all gyms are set to reopen in stage three, along with nightclubs, pools, recreation centres, arenas, arts and culture festivals, concerts, and major sporting events – all with restrictions however.

Industry conferences can also resume in the third stage, along with the full reopening of all businesses and services, with restrictions, and larger gatherings permitted as well with the number of people to be determined.

In addition, restrictions on non-essential travel are to be removed in Stage 3, but physical distancing measures are to remain in place.

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Petition organizer Nathan Amor, who owns an F45 gym in Calgary, believes smaller, boutique style fitness studios are better able to ensure safe conditions through distancing and sanitation, thereby making stage two a better fit for small gyms.

“The current Alberta economic relaunch strategy is lumping all gyms in with large rec centres and putting us in phase three of the relaunch,” says Amor on his petition page. “However, this is very unfair as there are lots of small boutique fitness studios that can operate at 50 per cent capacity and practice social distancing.”

Lifted restrictions planned for Stage 2 of the government’s relaunch plan currently include the potential opening of K-12 schools – with restrictions, libraries – with restrictions, and more surgeries scheduled, including backlog elimination.

In addition, more personal services like artificial tanning, esthetics, cosmetic skin and body treatments, manicures, pedicures, waxing, facial treatments, and massage and reflexology would also be allowed to reopen.

Larger gatherings would be permitted in some situations with the number of people to be determined, along with the reopening of restaurants, cafes, lounges and bars to continue operating at reduced capacity. Movie theatres and theatres would also be allowed to reopen with restrictions as well.

Amor says his 2,500 sq. ft gym has class sizes of roughly 30 people normally, but with regulations of 15 or less people in a gathering and 50 per cent operating capacities allowed in the relaunch plan, he feels his business could operate safely in Stage 2.

“We could allow for that six feet of distance between each person in the workout, we can modify it where equipment isn’t shared,” he explains. “So we could set up a station and you stay at your station for the entire workout. Whereas at a rec centre or bigger facility, you’ve got to move around to use different equipment.”

Amor says a letter outlining his concerns has been sent to Minister of Health Tyler Shandro in hopes of having the wishes of small gyms in Alberta reconsidered in the relaunch plan.

“What’s been asked of us is to actually give the provincial government and the health minister our guidelines,” says Amor. “We’ve got guidelines on what the franchise wants us to do, but we want to do this safely and we think that we can. We want to be able to open in line with tanning studios and movie theatres.”

With Stage 1 of the province’s relaunch plan set to begin May 14, officials note progression to Stage 2 will be determined by the success of Stage 1, considering health care system capacity, hospitalization and ICU cases, and infection rates.

Progression to Stage 3 will be determined based on the success of stages 1 and 2.