An Alberta boy has drowned in his family pond after slipping off a dock, RCMP say.

The boy, 6, was playing Wednesday in the back yard of his home near Tofield, a town just southeast of Edmonton, while his father was doing yard work, Sgt. Jim Warren of the Tofield RCMP said on Thursday.

The father went looking for his son after he hadn't seen him for a few minutes, Warren said.

"He followed his footprints in the snow; they went out to a dock that was extended out to a pond, and then he discovered the body under the water."

The end of the free-floating dock likely dipped under the boy's weight, plunging him into the icy pond, Warren said.

The boy was taken to the Tofield Health Centre where attempts to resuscitate him failed. His name hasn't been released by police.