A chilly New Year's Day tradition is taking place across Canada as people plunge into icy water during annual polar bear dips. 
Large crowds of eager swimmers were expected to take a dip in Vancouver's English Bay. The tradition started in 1920 when a small number of swimmers jumped into the water on New Year's Day.
In Nova Scotia, about 100 people dove into the waters near Halifax.
Trent Courage and his brother, Todd Courage, have been organizing an even bigger version of the chilly annual tradition for the past 25 years. The brothers started their event, the Courage Brothers' Polar Bear Dip, in 1985, when they jumped into Lake Ontario in Burlington, Ont.
The annual plunge now takes place at Coronation Park in Oakville, Ont., and all money raised is donated to World Vision to support freshwater projects in developing countries.
In Panama, intrepid Canadians not only dipped themselves in the frigid waters of the Pacific, but spent much of the day running around in bathing suits, as if to say,"No matter what temperature January 1 brings, we can take it!"
