If you have spare time in the morning and mid-afternoon, the City of Guelph may have a job for you.
Heading into the new school year, the city is short 11 crossing guards, including five regular guards and six spare guards who would fill in the gaps for regulars who are away or sick.
"To be honest the last few years, we've had trouble maintaining a full staff compliment for this program," Steve Anderson, manager of transportation and engineering with city told GuelphToday.
"This year is kind of the worst of the last few years, but it's a trend that's developed over the last few years."
There is no real set explanation on why the trend is happening.
But Anderson does note the job tends to attract people who are retired and are looking for something to do to be active in the community.
"Some of them just get to the point where it's like 'okay now I really want to be retired, I want to have my whole day available to me,'" he said, adding some will call it quits due to an ailment or illness at times.
Looking at the time commitment, the longest shift is around 35 minutes, with some as short as 20 minutes.
"Really, if you live close to your location, you could be out the door and back in the door in less than an hour," he said.
The goal, he added, is to never have a crossing without a guard, and will deploy full-time city staff to cover vacancies. But barring that, the city's last resort will be to inform the school board they may not be able to staff a location.
A full staffing complement is 40 regular guards and 10 spare guards.
If you would like to help out, Anderson said they have postings on the city's website, or you can call or walk into city hall and ask for anyone in the traffic department
