What newly released data shows about drowning deaths in B.C.

Eighty-six people in B.C. died by accidental drowning last year, according to new data released by the coroner's service that sheds light on trends in the province over the past 10 years.

The number of deaths in 2022 was higher than the ten-year average, which was 76, and represented the second-highest annual total in the past decade. In 2020, there were 87 accidental drownings.

"The data include all deaths where the cause of death was determined to be accidental drowning or where preliminary circumstances indicate accidental drowning," the report from the BC Coroner's Service explains.

"An accidental death is defined as a death due to unintentional or unexpected injury, including death resulting from complications reasonably attributed to the drowning accident."

Over the past 10 years, the majority of victims were male, at 78 per cent. The ages of those who died are not broken down by gender, but in total, one in five deaths were among those between the ages of 19 and 29, making it the age group with the highest number of drownings. The vast majority of people who died, 85 per cent, were from British Columbia.

More than half of the drownings in the reported time period, 57 per cent, occurred in rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds. The Fraser River had the highest number, with 53 deaths while Okanagan Lake was the second-most dangerous with 30. Ocean drownings accounted for 19 per cent of accidental deaths.

Eighty-four people, roughly 10 per cent of all victims, drowned in bathtubs while an additional four per cent died in swimming pools and hot tubs, respectively.

The report also provides data on what people were doing when they drowned. Boating and swimming were the most dangerous activities accounting for a combined 37 per cent of incidents. Those were followed by falls into water, at 17 per cent.

Drugs and alcohol were identified as "contributing factors" in 38 per cent of all accidental drownings between 2012 and 2020.

"There may be more than one contributing factor to an incident. Alcohol/drug contribution is determined by the coroner as relevant to the death when investigations conclude, thus data is only available for closed investigations," the report says, explaining why the information is not yet available for 2021 and 2022.