There's no life jacket law, but police and safety advocates say 'there's really no excuse' not to wear them

For many people, the May long weekend is the unofficial kick-off to the summer season, with people heading to their cottages or hitting waterways in boats and other vessels.

May 17-23 also marks Safe Boating Awareness Week in Canada. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and water safety advocates are reminding people about the importance of wearing life jackets when out on the water. 

The OPP say in 2024, 20 people died in boating or paddling and over the last 13 years, 86 per cent of water fatalities involved people not wearing a life jacket.

"[That] is a staggering stat," said Sergeant Dave Moffat, the OPP's provincial marine coordinator.

"It's frustrating because it's the same story. It continues over and over that people are deciding that they don't think that life jackets are proper for their boating attire."

In Canada, including Ontario, there is currently no law in place that requires people to wear life jackets.

In 2023, Bill 93, Joshua's Law, was introduced in the Ontario legislature. If passed, it would require all children in Ontario who are 12 years of age or younger to wear a life jacket or personal floatation device while on a moving pleasure boat. 

The bill made it to second reading in 2023 and was ordered for a third reading, but has not progressed through Queen's Park since then. 

Moffat calls the bill a "great initiative" for children, but says more should be done to make everyone wear a life jacket.

"In my opinion, there's really no excuse to not wear a life jacket because it can and will save your life," Moffat said.

The Lifesaving Society Ontario says one in five drownings in the province are from boating-related incidents, where the majority of victims are not wearing life jackets, and 44 per cent of all water fatalities are related to paddle users in canoes, kayaks or stand-up paddle boards.

"We hop in our vehicle, we put our seat belt on and we don't even think about it. It's just an automatic reaction, something that we automatically do," said Lisa Hanson Ouellette, a senior researcher with Lifesaving Society Ontario. 

"And life jacket wear should be exactly that. It should just be an automatic thing, regardless of your age, regardless of the type of vessel, and regardless of who you are, what it is that you're doing."