Research on Newcomers
In 2024, the Lifesaving Society Ontario conducted a survey to better understand water safety skills and knowledge among subsets of Canadian residents. Nearly 3,000 residents were surveyed including Canadian-born residents, international students, recent immigrants and immigrants who have lived in Canada for more than five years. The survey results offer insight to the perceptions and barriers newcomers to Canada have about participating in aquatic activities.
Key findings:
- More than 4 in 5 newcomers believe that learning to swim is a necessary life skill.
- Half of newcomers described themselves as non- or weak swimmers.
- Close to 3 in 5 international students described themselves as non- or weak swimmers.
- 9 in 10 newcomers who cannot swim report that they are not currently taking swimming lessons.
- Newcomer parents whose children have not taken formal swimming lessons cite a lack of time and cost as barriers.
- Close to 9 in 10 newcomers agree that all children should receive swimming instruction at school as part of a school safety program.
- 4 in 5 recent immigrant respondents plan to be on, in or around the water during the summer.
- Of newcomers who plan to be on, in or around the water in the summer, nearly half state that they plan to do this once a week or more.
- Less than one-third of newcomers who participate in boating activities state that they sometimes wear their lifejacket.
- 1 in 3 newcomers state that they always or sometimes go boating or swimming alone.
Drowning Prevention tips
Learn to swim. At a minimum, make sure everyone in your family can achieve the Swim to Survive standard. Take a lifesaving course and learn how to reduce the risk of drowning, as well as what to do if something goes wrong.
Keep your children within arms' reach. Drowning is a fast and silent killer. Whenever your children are around water, keep your eyes on them and stay within arms' reach.
Protect yourself with a PFD. Always wear a lifejacket or personal flotation device (PFD) when boating or swimming if you are not a strong swimmer.
Swim with lifeguard supervision. Drownings in areas supervised by lifeguards are rare. Whenever possible, choose to swim in supervised areas.