It depends on total weight. Is this a drysuit dive, 5 mm wet, 5mm wet with a core warmer...?
If you're just diving the St Lawrence down around Prescott, wetsuit is fine now.
If you exceed your BC's lift capacity due to the combined weight of tank plus weights, it could put you to the point where the unit will self-dump, sink, if you took the BCD off.
First couple of times, if it's a drysuit and you're just doing your certs in it, can be pretty horrendous, weight wise. There's a steep (rapid) learning curve, dropping weight as your comfort level builds, you get your buoyancy in better shape. I actually used 39 lb (8 on a belt, 3 lb ankle weights, 4 pound tank weight, 24 pounds in BC pouches) first couple of drysuit OW dives, dropped to 32 on my last OW/DS cert dive, then 28, then 24.
At open water dive 12 I switched to wetsuit (warmer water). My pool dives in a wetsuit had been 20 pounds, then 18 for the last one. Now I'm down to 12 pounds in a full 5mm wetsuit, comfortable. Practice, getting wet, really helps.
Good luck!