Safe Boating Awareness Week: wear a lifejacket when on the water
![OPP Marine Police Ontario Provincial Police marine unit (OPP_CR/Twitter)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/5/16/opp-marine-police-1-6889305-1715855383125.jpeg)
After 23 fatalities on our rivers and lakes last year, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are sending out a distress signal ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend.
Most of the 23 marine fatality victims were not wearing life jackets.
The number of lives that could be saved if every boater and paddler wore a lifejacket during every boat ride is not difficult to measure when looking at OPP data associated with fatal boating/paddling incidents.
For 21 of the 23 people who lost their lives in boating/paddling incidents in 2023, their vessel either capsized or they fell overboard.
Seventeen of those who died were not wearing a lifejacket.
Surviving these types of incidents usually comes down to whether or not you choose to wear a lifejacket which, when properly worn, will keep you afloat the entire time you are in the water.
- Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox
With approximately half of last year's marine fatalities involving kayaks, canoes and other non-motorized vessels, paddlers are reminded that they are just as vulnerable when it comes to capsizing or falling overboard without a lifejacket.
Police say with these two primary causes accounting for the majority of OPP-investigated marine fatalities every year, a large number of boaters/paddlers would have likely survived their ordeal on the water had they worn a lifejacket.
Alcohol/drug-use and collisions with other vessels or fixed objects remain other lead contributing factors in marine deaths on our waterways.
The OPP Marine Program has a fleet of 152 vessels and 365 marine officers committed to enforcing boating laws and the safety of Ontario boaters on more than 110,000 square kilometres (95 per cent) of Ontario's lakes and rivers.
During Safe Boating Awareness Week, May 18 to 24, boaters and paddlers are encouraged to raise awareness about every aspect of safe traveling on waterways.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6977053.1721909931!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Sick to my stomach': People grieve Jasper National Park by sharing favourite photos
As an out-of-control wildfire roared through Alberta’s famed Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday, many are fearing the worst as officials warned of 'significant loss' within the area.
Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Canadian women's soccer team staffer given suspended prison sentence over drone incident, prosecutor says
A Canada women's soccer team staffer has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after flying a drone to film the closed-door training session of the New Zealand team on Monday, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Sale of envoy's NYC condo 'expected to exceed' $9M: government
The current official residence for Canada's representative in New York City is 'being readied for sale,' according to a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Loblaw to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500 million to settle a pair of class-action lawsuits regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.