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3-Year-Old’s Sandbanks Drowning Raises Ontario’s Summer Water Deaths to 10

OPP investigations into the toddler’s drowning highlight that no summer victims wore life jackets, underscoring the need for stricter boating safety enforcement.

File photo. Sandbanks Provincial Park in Prince Edward County on Monday, Aug 17, 2020.
Police say the body of a 17-year-old girl was recovered on June 23, 2025, after witnesses reported seeing her jump off the Third Street Bridge into the Thames River in Chatham, sparking a search by police and fire crews. (Ellwood Shreve/Postmedia Network)
Safety officials urge all water users to wear life jackets and follow proper boating practices to prevent drownings.
OPP cruiser

Overview

  • On July 24 a three-year-old girl drowned at Sandbanks Provincial Park, bringing eastern Ontario’s summer water fatalities to 10.
  • None of the victims this year were wearing life jackets, according to the Ontario Provincial Police.
  • Fatalities include a 35-year-old Woodstock man who drowned while saving his daughter on Lake Erie and an 18-year-old swimmer at Ipperwash Beach.
  • The Safety Awareness and Boating Association warns that many charter vessels operate outside federal safety standards, leaving passengers unprotected.
  • The OPP and partner groups are intensifying marine safety alerts and advocating mandatory life-jacket use and stricter boating regulations.