After a rash of drowning deaths during Europe’s record-breaking heat wave, advocates are urging Canadians to stay safe this summer as they push for more public swimming access across the country.
France’s prime minister said last week that 40 people drowned in a matter of days as they sought to cool down to escape temperatures exceeding 40 C, and similar reports of swimming deaths during the heat wave followed out of Germany.
Canada is in for its own heat wave this week, with parts of Ontario and Quebec expected to hit the mid-30s.
“You might be really hot. You might think this river looks really inviting or this waterfall looks really inviting, but there are hazards that could take your life,” Lenea Grace, executive director of the Lifesaving Society of BC & Yukon, told CBC News.
Grace warns currents, undertows and even logs in the water present dangers that may not be obvious before jumping in.
“Just because you’re a confident swimmer in your local pool doesn’t mean that you should be jumping into a river, for example, or another body of water that may have currents or tides.”
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Grace says there have been 92 drownings in Canada this year as of June 29. That’s four less than the same date last year, but numbers are up in B.C. and Ontario.
She recommends seeking out bodies of water with lifeguards if possible, or at least to swim in areas with other people around. She also urges caregivers to keep small children within arm’s reach, and says anyone boating or lacking swimming skills should wear a lifejacket.
The borough mayor for Verdun in Montreal called for more secure access points to waters around the city after an 18-year-old drowned earlier this month, marking the fourth drowning near Verdun Beach in just over a year.
“When it’s getting hot, people — it’s just a reflex — they want to go to the water. But they don’t really necessarily know about everything related to this environment,” Céline-Audrey Beauregard said at the time.
Gregary Ford, vice-president of Swim Drink Fish, a Canadian organization that advocates for clean, safe water, says heat waves push a lot of people outside and some will dip into public waters for the first time.
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Swim Drink Fish’s Blue Flag program lists 13 beaches across Canada that meet its 33 criteria for environmental education and information, water quality, environmental management and safety and services.
The group also advocates for more clean, safe and free spaces to swim.
With heat rising globally, Ford says “blue space,” where people can access bodies of water, has natural cooling capabilities to protect people against the impacts of climate change.
“So it’s really important that communities are provided with access to these natural free urban cooling spaces in the safest possible way,” he said.
Matthew Sykes, co-founder of the global Swimmable Cities Initiative, says the heat wave drownings in Europe are showing that in some cities, people are swimming in areas that don’t have proper systems in place — and that demand for swimming infrastructure is increasing.
“There’s a mind shift that’s happening at the moment,” Sykes said. “We’ve seen for decades the increase of walkable cities and cyclable cities. Now we’re talking about swimmable cities.”
Swimmable Cities is teaming up with the City of Ottawa, Ville de Gatineau and the National Capital Commission to host its Global Swimmable Cities Summit next year, with a goal of restoring rivers, lakes, coastlines and waterfronts “as public spaces that support health, climate resilience and urban life.”
Ottawa is the first Canadian city to publicly sign its Swimmable Cities Charter.
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Bacteria is one of the biggest barriers to safe public swimming.
Swim Drink Fish’s Swim Guide provides up-to-date information on the cleanliness of specific bodies of water across Canada and globally.
Lynn Wharram, the program lead with Surfrider South Vancouver Island’s Blue Water Task Force, tests year-round for enterococcus to monitor water safety at various swimming spots around Victoria.
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She says issues often happen after a big rainfall when bacteria is flushed through storm drains, and conversely, when water is stagnant for too long.
Blue-green algae in particular has been an increasing problem in lakes as temperatures warm, exacerbated by runoff from farmlands and urban centres.
“You don’t want to be going into a lake and then getting sick from it,” Wharram said. “It’s going to ruin your summer.”
Wharram says she used to swim in the conjoined Elk and Beaver lakes as a kid growing up. When those became “unswimmable,” she started going to Thetis Lake, which also developed an algae problem.
She says there are technological solutions, and experiments are underway on how to make some of those spots swimmable again.
Vancouver Island’s Capital Regional District completed a $1.6-million oxygenation system in 2023, as part of its Elk/Beaver Lake Initiative, to pump highly oxygenated air into the deepest part of the lake and reduce the amount of phosphorous that can reach the surface and feed algae blooms. The project aims to reduce the frequency and duration of blooms and improve overall water quality over the next five to 10 years.
As far as this summer goes, Wharram cautions against cliff jumping and swimming too far from shore, noting she often sees people get exhausted from the heat.
“Even if you are a strong swimmer, the heat can really get to you pretty quickly, so just be careful,” she said.
