Have you ever tried putting on a life jacket while you are already floating in the water?

Kevin Tordiffe is Operations Manager for Lifesaving Society Manitoba Branch. He says trying to get a life jacket on while you are swimming is an extremely difficult task. For that reason, he encourages anyone who is heading out onto the lake in a boat to be wearing a life jacket and not only sitting on one.

July 1st to 9th is National Fishing Week. Lifesaving Society is using this week to stress the importance of wearing a life jacket. According to the Canadian Safe Boating Council and the Lifesaving Society, 80 percent of recreational boaters who drown each year in Canada were not wearing a life jacket or Personal Floatation Device. Tordiffe says 100 percent of boaters who drowned last year in Manitoba were not wearing a life jacket.

Transport regulations state there must be a life jacket for each person on a vessel. However, wearing that life jacket is not a requirement. But Tordiffe says the time to learn how to put on a life jacket is not when you are already in the water, kicking to stay alive. He says the safest practice is to already be wearing a life jacket once you set out in the boat.

And, for anglers, though it is not necessary to be wearing a life jacket if you're fishing from shore, Tordiffe says that still might be a good idea. He says each angler should evaluate their own abilities and their environment to determine whether wearing a life jacket actually makes the most sense. He adds it is better to be safe than sorry.

Tordiffe says when picking out a life jacket, choose one that will work for you and the activities you have planned.

"If you choose one that is going to suit your needs you are much more likely to use it when you need to," he says.

Tordiffe says always ensure the life jacket is Transport Canada certified.

"National surveys show more than half the recreational boats sold in Canada are used for fishing on a regular basis," says John Gullick, Chair of the Canadian Safe Boating Council. "During National Fishing Week, the Canadian Safe Boating Council would like to remind all anglers not only to have their life jacket onboard their boat but to wear it as if their life depended on it."