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CSBC Boating Safety �Education Activities in Canada

2025

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Safe Boating Awareness Week – Building on the Brand

Transport Canada Boating

Safety Contribution Program

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Shock and Awe Project

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The Premise

What was the premise behind The Shock Factor?

With The Shock Factor, we aimed to work with real boaters to debunk the myths and excuses many have for not wearing a lifejacket. Through research and a series of experiences, we demonstrated the real risks associated with the “shock factor” of an unexpected fall from a boat – risks that can lead to outcomes capable of ruining a boater’s day on the water.

Dr. Giesbrecht was once again part of the research team, contributing to the creation and design of the experiences, as well as analyzing the physiological data.

Our ultimate goal was to engage boaters and help them believe in and understand the importance of always wearing a lifejacket while boating, as anything can happen that might unexpectedly put them in the water.

What were the experiences conducted during The Shock Factor that helped us achieve this ultimate goal?

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Research

Baseline Attitudinal
Human Reaction
Quantitative Perception
Results Research

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Human Reaction Research – The Experiences

With the human reaction research experiences, we aimed to demonstrate that the shock or surprise of an unexpected fall overboard causes a “GASP” reaction, which can be “deadly” no matter the time of year or the water temperature.

Building on the knowledge gained during Cold Water Bootcamp and Beyond Cold Water Bootcamp, these experiences were designed to show that it doesn’t matter how experienced a boater you are, how well you can swim, what the water temperature is (warm or cold), or how close your lifejacket may be. When you are boating, there is always a risk of an unexpected fall into the water.

Four experiences were designed for Shock Factor. These experiences aimed to place participants in surprise situations to record their reactions, both physical and physiological.

These included two virtual reality experiences and two physical experiences. The virtual reality scenarios were:

VR SUP
VR Fishing on a Bass Boat

The physical experiences were:

3. Warm Water Dunk Tank

4. Cold Water Dunk Tank

These experiences were designed to represent the ‘surprise’ of an unexpected fall into the water.

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How We Measured –

Physical & Physiological Reactions

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Analysing the Hexoskin Data

Legend

VT = Tidal Volume or Breath Size

SUP = SUP VR

FB = Fishing Boat VR

WW = Warm Water Dunk Tank

CW = Cold Water Dunk Tank

All the data collected during the participants' experiences was uploaded into the Hexoskin software, which enabled us to process and export the raw data for analysis. Each participant was assigned a unique code to ensure that all data records were kept separate and organized.

Dr. Gord Giesbrecht’s team reviewed the data and determined that breath size, also known as tidal volume, provided the clearest results. In the graph above, the blue represents the baseline average breath size while the participant was “resting”, and the teal represents the average maximum breath size during the dunking or tipping of the vessel.

The results show that the surprise experiences caused a measurable gasp-like response in the participants. For the VR SUP and fishing boat scenarios, there was an average 4-fold increase in breath size. In the dunk tanks, there was an average 6.5-fold increase.

So, what can we take away from this data? Humans have a natural GASP, or increased inhalation size, when surprised. Unexpectedly falling into water, regardless of the temperature, can cause a very large inhalation. If the person’s head is submerged, this could mean inhaling water, which poses a serious risk.

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Marketing Campaign

Sharing the Message

Social Media

Website

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Safe Boating Awareness Week�Building on the Brand��Transport Canada Boating Safety Contribution Program

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Safe Boating Awareness Week – Building on the Brand

Broad target audience of ALL Canadian recreational boaters
Focusing on the CSBCs 5 key messages for boating safety
Emphasizing the importance of PFD wear
Promotional activities will include:

Traditional print media
Social Media
Out-of-Home advertising
Events

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Safe Boating Awareness Week

through the years

Multiple events across Canada
Including:

Toronto
Vancouver
Victoria
Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Hamilton
Dartmouth

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SBAW 2025

Multiple events across Canada

Including:

Toronto
Vancouver
Winnipeg

And new locations for 2025

Sidney
Jericho Sailing School, Vancouver
Quebec

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SBAW – Building on the Brand

How we are supporting partners

Website updated with

SBAW event reference guide
Online toolbox with:

Images and videos for social media
brochures

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SBAW – Building on the Brand

How we are supporting partners:

Printed marketing materials
Partnership engagement for community events
Outreach and Promotion

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Goal is to have a minimum of 10 events.

PSA’s to share with local media
Event guide and tool kit
Lifejacket wear focus on advertising

Planning for SBAW 2026

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SARSmart�Cold Water Awareness Bootcamp

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SARsmart

Will identify, develop, and deliver topics that foster safer boating behaviours in an effort to save lives and reduce injury.
Increased awareness and knowledge impacts behavior and aspires to reduce the frequency and severity of SAR incidents in Northern communities. Sustainability, and widespread dissemination of knowledge, are key priorities to be achieved through delivery of workshops in Northern communities.

The most current project is the SARSmart Cold Water Awareness Bootcamp. We received confirmation of funding support from Public Safety for this project in Oct 2024.

Project Overview:

The Search and Rescue Smart Cold Water Awareness Boot Camp (SARSmart) program is a 3-year outreach and educational initiative. It leverages the CSBC’s knowledge on cold-water awareness and survival skills in the development of a Search and Rescue (SAR) prevention program. It will gather valuable feedback from Indigenous and remote communities across Canada during the course component. The content created for SARSmart will address the unique challenges of preparing and becoming self-sufficient in remote locations across Canada. Building on CSBC’s 2008 and 2011 Cold Water Boot Camp programs, a new experiential survival/self-rescue educational video-based course will be created. Volunteers from Northern communities will be invited to participate, learn how to be SARSmart in and around cold water, and have an opportunity to share culturally specific information. Educational elements will include cold-water survival, ice safety, self-rescue, hypothermia awareness, prevention and care. Interviews with participants will focus on their experiences, new knowledge, and relevance of the information to their own lives.

Volunteer experiences will form the foundation of an educational program that will be shared with CSBC's partner network in Northern communities across Canada. CSBC and Playsafe Production will coordinate and manage the project, while expertise will be provided by an expert in cold stress physiology and participants will share their lived experiences and knowledge. Forsefield will contribute graphics and AR development for the posters and

handouts, as well as website updates. Partnerships with Canadian Ranger Patrol Groups, Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary and the RCMP is essential for creating, producing and delivering the cold-water program into the targeted communities. This program will provide access to online information, educational augmented reality (AR) posters, handouts, and an educator’s manual

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Key Elements

SARSmart Cold Water

Awareness Educational Course

Cold Water Immersion Exercises
Outreach into Communities
Facebook Channel

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Course and Production

SARSmart cold water awareness educational course

8 learning modules
Available online and on USB

Cold Water Immersion Exercises

Working with Dr. Gordon Geisbrecht

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SARsmart Website

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SARsmart Outreach

Sharing in the Communities:

Partners:

CRPG’s
CCGA’s
RMCP

Educational Program
Poster with key information