I think it is very different. In Canada it is very common to go camping or be invited to someone's cottage and you may end up in a dock or boat. Places where yo

I think it is very different. In Canada it is very common to go camping or be invited to someone's cottage and you may end up in a dock or boat. Places where you may not be planning on swimming but fall it by accident (or in the case of a boat due to an accident). For this reason children are generally taught to swim as a safety measure. Drowning incidents are fairly common in Canada so it is good to help reduce them. If most of your swimming is in pools (especially public pools) it is far safer (shallow end, more people around, limited depth, no trauma from a boating accident) so it is less necessary to learn from a safety point of view. Obviously many people will still learn for fun but it generally isn't pushed as much in school or other community services.