Canadian musher David Daley (front), poses with his son Wyatt Daley in Churchill, northern Canada on August 10, 2022. Photo: AFP

A Canadian police officer was killed on Tuesday after being shot while investigating a traffic accident about 100 kilometers south of Toronto, authorities said.

"It is with an extremely heavy heart that I regretfully advise that [Ontario Provincial Police] Provincial Constable Grzegorz Pierzchala was killed today while courageously serving in the line of duty," Commissioner Thomas Carrique said on Twitter. 

Pierzchala "was investigating a motor vehicle collision when he was shot and killed this afternoon" in the small town of Hagersville in southern Ontario, the provincial police said in a statement.

The officer was 28 years old, and had been on the job for a little more than a year. He died in hospital after the shooting.

Two suspects have been taken into custody, police said in a press conference.

On Tuesday evening, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences at the "heartbreaking news." There have been at least five shootings in December that were not included in the tally, including that of the man police say shot six people at a Toronto-area condo.

Though it sees far fewer shootings than its neighbor the US, Canada has experienced an upsurge in gun violence in recent years.

The shootings prompted the government to implement a ban on the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns, which went into effect on October 21, 2022.

AFP