‘Could have been much worse’: Two men rescued from capsized canoe

An Ontario Provincial Police marine boat. (CTV News/Luke Simard)

Provincial police reported on Friday afternoon that two men were rescued after their canoe had capsized in a Kawartha region lake this past week.

According to City of Kawartha Lakes OPP, emergency crews responded to reports of a boat that capsized on Cameron Lake at around 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday. The two male occupants reportedly held on to their capsized canoe until they were rescued by a nearby boat.

Police say that life jackets were not present in the boat.

“Due to lowering temperatures in the water this could have resulted in a much worse outcome,” said an OPP media officer in a news release. “With capsized vessels and falling overboard the top contributing factors in boating deaths every year, a significant number of lives stand to be saved if boaters, personal watercraft users and paddlers wore a lifejacket or personal floatation device.”

The OPP says it is committed to boater education as it enforces more than 110,000 square kilometres of waterways across the province.