Latest News

Launching YMCA BC is just a couple weeks away!

We will start 2023 with incremental changes so watch out for requests to complete small administrative tasks necessary for all our employees as we form our new Y. One has already been completed—hooray! All 1,659 active employees received a new letter of employment recognizing that our employer changes to YMCA BC in January.

Effective January 3rd and 4th, the next most significant change for the whole team is the adoption of new YMCA BC email addresses (domain name @bc.ymca.ca). Here is what you NEED TO KNOW AND DO on January 3rd and 4th.

What is happening?
On January 3rd, email addresses for YMCA of Northern BC and YMCA-YWCA of Kamloops staff will be changed to a YMCA BC address.
On January 4th, email address for YMCA of Greater Vancouver staff will be changed to a YMCA BC address.

What is the YMCA BC email address?
The changed email address for all staff will be the same as the current, except the domain name (the text after the ‘@’ character) is changed. Your address will be (typically) firstname.lastname@bc.ymca.ca. Everything before the ‘@’ character will remain the same.

• nbc.ymca.ca is replaced with bc.ymca.ca (“just drop the n!”)

• kamloopsy.ca is replaced with bc.ymca.ca

• gv.ymca.ca is replaced with bc.ymca.ca

When it is your day to change, you log into your email using your NEW email address and your CURRENT password. Your password will not change.

We know many team members will take time off between now and the new year. To help spread the word about signing into our new emails, please forward this e-news to your teams and watch out for a YMCA BC IT-specific email that will include these same log-in instructions & FAQs and a poster for you to print out and share broadly. This is important to have available as people return to work and need to know how to log onto their new email.

Thank you for your attention to this task. Once we have successfully migrated everyone to bc.ymca.ca addresses in early January, we will circulate instructions on how to properly brand your e-signatures. These small actions will help us to introduce consistency as we lay the foundation for our new YMCA.

If you have any questions, please contact your local IT support or call 604.789.9622.

November 10, 2022

Earlier this fall we announced the Legal Go Live date is January 3, 2023. On that date, we will become YMCA BC. A lot of work is happening behind the scenes in preparation. 

What to expect next in this intentional process

We promised this process would be methodical and phased to ensure any changes are made at a reasonable pace. We continue to be committed to that in this next chapter, and that means great intentionality when considering each area, team and community so all of us can realize the opportunities that unification provides. We are pleased to provide you with an update on the process and next steps:

a. The first phase of the two-phased approach shared with teams in June is underway, focused on uniting our support services (finance, human resources, payroll, marketing-communications, information systems, fund development, asset and facility management) into one integrated team. Over the next month, we will introduce you to these teams and their internal priorities. You can expect to receive detailed instructions on how you can support the initial changes required to launch YMCA BC on January 3, 2023.

b. The second phase of the process, following the unification of our support services, will address functional and geographic leadership. This will be transitioned in 2023.  

c. All employees of YMCA BC will receive communication over the next month about some practical changes for January, which will include new email addresses, renewed employment contracts with the new legal entity (YMCA BC) and ADP payroll system details. Stay tuned!

Don't forget to submit your questions to unification@bc.ymca.ca so you can help us to keep the the larger team as informed as possible.

August 4, 2022

Introducing your YBC Transition Team

The YBC Transition Team will play an integral role in the planning process for all areas of the new unified organization. Throughout the upcoming phases of the unification process, this group of amazing YMCA leaders will be overseeing a number of important items and supporting the larger YMCA staff team by:

• Offering input and advice on the implications of strategies in terms of how people work together, and the impact on users or other stakeholders.

• Gathering and providing feedback out and across the Association as well as up to Senior Leadership Team (SLT) members.

• Assisting functional leaders with feedback from key users and other stakeholders and engage in collaborative problem-solving in case of confusion or resistance.

Meet the team!

May 19, 2022

Unification takes another important step forward

During the week of May 9th, committed supporters from across our community came together to engage in a very important and exciting step toward the YMCA-YWCA of Kamloops, YMCA of Northern BC and YMCA of Greater Vancouver becoming one team – specifically, member voting on the question of unification.

We are excited to share that the result was a resounding YES from voting members in all three associations!

Positive YES votes in all of our associations are a tremendous endorsement of our vision to build a unified YMCA. As we continue to work through the process of CRA approval, which we expect to wrap up this summer, we are also focused on a critical priority – our new operational structure.

You are aware this work is already underway at the leadership level, which will include as much staff consultation and communication as possible. We expect to be able to share the new structure by the end of the month, and are committed to continuing to update you on this important process, as we have done throughout the unification journey to date

April 21, 2022

YMCA Special Members Meetings

Voting members are defined slightly differently in each association, according to our unique bylaws. Here’s what that group looks like for each of our partner associations and when their meetings are taking place:

The YMCA/YWCA of Kamloops association is set to meet May 10th, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. and they define voting members as individuals 19 years of age or older who:

• Donate $50 in each of the two previous full calendar years (2021 &2022);

• Performed a minimum of 25 hours of voluntary service in each of the two previous full calendar years (2021 & 2020);

• Have a combination of donations or voluntary service noted above;

• Have applied in writing for voting members; or

• Are currently serving as a director Board Director.