Drowning deaths rising in certain provinces. How to stay water-safe this summer
Global News
In Canada, drownings can happen year-round, but the majority of cases (73 per cent) occurred during warmer months (May through September), according to Health Canada.
As people across Canada prepare their pools for the summer and others head to cabins to swim in lakes, experts warn to stay water-safe. Drowning rates spike in the summer, and incidents can happen silently and within seconds.
The caution comes after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 14 released a report stating that drowning deaths are on the rise in the country, following decades of decline. The report found that more than 4,500 people died due to drowning each year from 2020 to 2022, 500 more per year compared with 2019.
Although Canada does not have national statistics for the same years as the U.S., provincial data shows similar trends, especially in Ontario.
“In our most recent drowning report it shows the highest number of drownings that we have seen in over 15 years, and that’s actually as far as our digital records go back,” Stephanie Bakalar, corporate communications manager for the Lifesaving Society Ontario, told Global News.
“We have not seen a spike like this, in years.”
The Lifesaving Society’s 2024 Ontario Drowning Report examined data from 2016 to 2020 and found that 2020 had the highest number of drowning deaths, with 211 fatalities.
In British Columbia, drowning deaths increased to 87 in 2020 from 68 in 2019, according to data from the BC Coroners Service. In 2022, there were 86 drowning deaths in the province, up from the annual average of 76.
In Manitoba, drowning rates were higher in 2020 (24 deaths) and 2021 (25 deaths) compared with 2019 (19 deaths). Similarly, in Saskatchewan, there were 19 drowning deaths in 2019, which increased to 29 in 2020 and 32 in 2021.
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