The Ontario government is reviewing swimming pool regulations following a spate of drownings in the province, but those charged with saving lives say other provinces should also be looking at the problem.

The Lifesaving Society says the safest places to swim are those with a lifeguard, but there are no regulations requiring them at many places popular with swimmers. (iStock)

"There's many things that can be done about it. We just have this patchwork across the country where a leading cause of death of kids unfortunately is not a high priority," said Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency room physician in Edmonton.

The Red Cross estimates about 500 Canadians die from drowning each year.

"I think it's worth looking at the regulations in all the provinces, in fact the regulations vary. These are provincial regulations. Some provinces have nothing, have no regulations at all for class B pools, that's hotels, motels, condo pools," Barbara Byers of the Lifesaving Society told CBC News.

She said Ontario already has among the strongest regulations governing swimming pools in Canada.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death among Ontario children.

CIHI reports 1,166 people visited an Ontario emergency room because of water-related incidents in 2002-03, the latest statistics available, and 40 of those people died from their injuries.

'One of four children in Ontario who experience a near-drowning sustain permanent brain damage.'—Margaret Keresteci, Canadian Institute for Health Information

That doesn't tell the whole story, however.

"We have paramedics, we have helicopters, we have intensive care units that keep more of these kids alive. They're alive, but in essence they're dead," Francescutti told CBC News.

"For every child that drowned in 2002-2003, there were six to 10 more who almost drowned and required hospitalization," said Margaret Keresteci, manager of clinical registries at CIHI.

"When you take into account that one of four children in Ontario who experience a near-drowning sustain permanent brain damage, you start to get an idea of how vital it is to make water safety a priority."

Hotel and condo pools in spotlight

Although most drownings occur in lakes, rivers and other open water, the Ontario focus is on hotel and condo pools, where several of the recent drownings occurred.

Those pools don't require lifeguards as long as they're under a specific size and accommodate fewer than 10 swimmers.

Ottawa police and paramedics recover the body of a drowning victim on Petrie Island in the Ottawa River on Victoria Day. (Pawel Dwulit/Canadian Press)

"Our opinion is having a lifeguard in a condo pool or hotel pool is great. The safest place to swim is when there's a lifeguard," said Byers.

But she said any review of water safety regulations should go beyond pools.

"Open it up even further, look at all those waterfronts, those beaches those conservation areas that have thousands of people swimming every year, no lifeguards," she said.

Francescutti said Canada needs "champions" to make water safety a priority across the country.

"It shows a lack of maturity as a society that we have, for whatever reason, refused to act on a problem that is so preventable."