A lone canoeist who drowned in the frigid Holland River north of Newmarket Tuesday afternoon was wearing a lifejacket when he capsized but was sucked up against the wall of a dam, police said.
The unidentified 45-year-old man appears to have been dead by the time the first uniformed officers arrived, Sergeant Laurie Perks of York Regional Police said.
"It was very dangerous there, the current is very strong there and the dam creates this suction right up against the dam. It's like it sucked him in."
The accident occurred close to Bayview Parkway and Elgin Street in the Mable Davis Conservation Area, a stretch of river popular with canoeists and kayakers.
It's thought the canoe turned over while being steered through some rapids and that the man was then swept toward the dam, where he became trapped.
The first police at the scene couldn't enter the river because of safety concerns, so a police marine unit was summoned from nearby Keswick. However, before they got there the body was pulled out of the water by York Region fire department.
By then, it's estimated he had been in the water for up to 30 minutes.
A coroner was at the scene.
The accident was a reminder that multiple water hazards lurk at this time of year, Sgt. Perks said.
"We routinely put out warnings. The water's still really cold and people need to be careful about the ice melting."