The drowning research process involves data collection, research
tabulation and analysis, and development of reports. A data
collection form and process is used to extract the water-related
deaths data from the offices of the Chief Coroners and Medical
Examiners in each province. The scope of this research:
- Collects the data needed to profile victims of aquatic
incidents, including the circumstances and contributing factors
under which these incidents occurred.
- Includes all deaths in each province and Canada overall
resulting from incidents "in, on or near water"; "near-water"
incidents were included if the incident was closely related to
water-based recreational, vocational or daily living activity, or
if the presence of water appeared to be an attraction contributing
to the incident.
- Includes only preventable (unintentional) deaths. It does not
include deaths due to natural causes, suicide, or homicide.