Lachine mother and son 2025 drowning deaths ruled accidental: coroner
Posted May 22, 2026 12:55 pm.
Last Updated May 22, 2026 2:55 pm.
A Quebec coroner says the 2025 drowning deaths of a 34-year-old mother and her three-year-old son in a residential pool in Montreal’s Lachine borough were accidental, as neither knew how to swim.
It happened on June 10, 2025, at a home on 20 Avenue near Provost Street. The coroner reports that the child and his mom were around the pool late in the afternoon, and the boy fell into the water trying to get a ball. The mom jumped in to save him, but neither person knew how to swim, and no one was wearing any sort of flotation device.
A family member was home at the time and noticed they were missing, but with the pool not ready for use, the water was murky, and they could not see the bottom.
Hours later — at night — as they went around the pool with a flashlight and used something to feel into the water, they realized the two victims were in the pool and called police.
Both victims were found unresponsive, and despite resuscitation efforts by paramedics and officers, the mother and child died.
The corner’s report says that in Canada 95 per cent of people born in the country know how to swim, but only 20 per cent of new arrivals have the skill. When it comes to children who move here, one third do not know how to swim by the time they are in sixth grade.
The coroner is recommending that the Lifesaving Society of Quebec raise awareness of the role, qualifications, and importance of designated lifeguards at private pools, and that the City of Montreal ensure that swimming lessons are available to the public and encourage residents to take them.
