Man dead, woman rescued, after canoe capsizes in Brampton: police

BRAMPTON – Peel Regional Police say they’re investigating a man’s death after a canoe capsized at a Brampton lake.

Spokesperson Tyler Bell says police received a report on Saturday of boaters in distress at Heart Lake Conservation Area and that a man and woman were in the water.

Bell says police and firefighters arrived at the scene around 9:30 p.m. and pulled a woman in her 30s from the water.

But he says emergency crews were unable to find the man, also in his 30s, and an extensive search-and-rescue operation was launched.

Bell says police air support units used thermal imaging cameras that night to scan the surface of the water and the lake’s perimeter from above, but they were unable to find the man.

He says an underwater recovery team took up the search Sunday and located the man’s body just after 1 p.m.

Bell says the conservation area is currently closed so nobody should have been on the water at the time, and police are treating the incident as suspicious out of an abundance of caution.

“Some things are just not completely lining up,” he said. “Whether or not there’s any criminality involved, we don’t know at this point.”

Bell said police impounded the woman’s vehicle as a precautionary measure as the investigation unfolds.

He added that neither the man nor woman were wearing life jackets at the time, and he is reminding the public to always have safety equipment while out on the water.

Bell said it was fortunate people were at the conservation area at the time having a bonfire, even though they, too, weren’t supposed to be there. Otherwise, he said there’s a chance both boaters could have died.

He said police are waiting for a coroner’s report to determine how the man died.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2026.