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Why not just have one evening at a club session (you don't have to join) you will be able to put on a bouyancy aid, jump into the swimming pool and see what happens, question answered.

Sink or float, plus if anything were to go wrong there would be someone there to drag you out.

Plus I don't think 'join a club' is the the stock answer it's the sensible answer

However you go have fun and stay safe.

Perhaps you are right. The only way to find out is to try one on, go to a swimming pool, jump in the deep end and see if I drown

I am not trying to be awkward though. Even you said initially a buoyancy aid would keep me afloat and then changed your mind and said it was just an 'aid'. So there obviously isn't a direct answer and depends on a swimmers/non-swimmers ability/weight which can only be solved by testing one. The safety websites say buoyancy aids are just aids to swimmers so it looks like I need a proper lifejacket...or polish up on my swimming 

Thank you Mojo.

When I last had a canoe (a stable seagoing type) I was sold a bouyancy aid by the shop that sold me the canoe and as far as I was blssfully aware it would have kept me afloat had my canoe capsized. However, I considered myself a reasonable swimmer at that time and I was young and carefree anyway so it didn't worry me too much...and I never had cause to test it.

Now that I am older, less carefree, and not very good at swimming, all I am trying to find out is whether or not a buoyancy aid will keep a non-swimmer afloat. I don't really care whether it keeps me on my back, on my front, or my legs in the air providing it keeps my head on top of the water and not under it

Most canoeists as you know wear a buoyancy aid because lifejackets tend to be too bulky unless you use the inflatable type which aren't really suitable for canoeing for the reasons you stated. The problem I am encountering is that if you look at the advice re buoyancy aids they all seem to state 'for swimmers' and it's not until you get into the realms of 'lifejackets' that they start referring to non-swimmers. I assume by this that a buoyancy aid is simply that...an aid...and a wearer still requires the ability to be able to swim and keep himself afloat.

Yes, I have looked at the Stearns Backcountry. They seem to be very popular and the type of thing I am looking for, however, I will probably be canoeing alone so a single seater may be better. I was looking at a Challenger K1 but they look a bit like a kids inflatable

This is the Challenger K1