About Boreal River
“Don’t just see the world, flow with it.”
Established in 2008, Boreal River operates across Canada and Costa Rica with three divisions:
- Boreal River Expeditions
- Boreal River Rescue
- Ciel et Bois
Boreal River Expeditions runs incredible 3-day to multi-week river journeys.
We specialise in whitewater rafting, multi-sport, and experiential education programs with:
- The Ottawa River
- Mutehekau Shipu (also known as The Magpie River)
- The Rio Pacuare in Costa Rica
- And other amazing rivers!
These river adventures are fun and challenging. You’ll flow through spectacular places.
They’re also all about having quality time with your group, with the living rivers that we travel with — and with yourself.
Boreal River Rescue provides skills training and certification courses across Canada and internationally in:
- Whitewater and swiftwater rescue
- Ice safety and rescue
- Wilderness medicine (first responder, first aid, and advanced care)
Ciel et Bois is a venue for overnight stays, meetings, getaways, and celebrations in Cantley, Québec.
Surrounded by beautiful woods and trails, but only twenty minutes from downtown Ottawa, ON, — ‘Ciel’ may be the perfect place to host your group of 4 to 30 for a:
- Productive work retreat
- Rejuvenating workshop
- Special event
We also host many of Boreal River Rescue’s Ottawa-area medical courses here.
Our evolving story
Big news in 2025
Ty Smith, Danny Peled, and Boreal River Expeditions have teamed up to purchase Esprit Rafting’s Ottawa River rafting operation from founder Jim Coffey.
Both Ty and Danny got their rafting start at Esprit, and are excited to carry forward the legacy!
Read more about our Ottawa River plans here.
Recent Initiatives (2020-2024)
- 2024: We created and put out to the world 2 free online courses
- 2023: Opened Ciel et Bois, our home for wilderness medical courses and an ideal venue for your events near Ottawa.
- 2020: Launched the Ottawa Kayarafting Adventure, an urban experiential education program right in Canada’s capital.
Connections and growth (2012-2017)
- In 2017, a group of 5 Boreal River Rescue instructors travelled to Jasper, Alberta to develop our Ice Rescue course curriculum, which is now taught from coast to coast to coast.
- 2016: A special summer with Mutehekau Shipu included trips with the Tips of the Toes Foundation (with young adults living with cancer), Innu youth groups, open-registration expeditions, and a private women’s group from Ekuanitshit.
- 2012-2016: Youth from Ekuanitshit, Pakua Shipi, Natashquan, and Unamen Shipu travelled with Mutehekau Shipu (also known as the Magpie River) on annual trips. We were privileged to facilitate these rafting expeditions — so rewarding and so much fun!
- 2012: Boreal River Rescue started running certification courses in swiftwater and whitewater rescue across Quebec, Ontario, and BC. Our instructor team has since grown, teaching courses internationally.
Foundations (2008-2012)
- 2010: Boreal River Rescue began running Wilderness First Responder and First Aid courses, partnered with Wilderness Medical Associates International. Today, hundreds of students participate each year on courses in Canada and Costa Rica.
- 2009-2012: We ran exploratory trips with the Romaine River, the West Mutehekau Shipu, and annual trips with Mutehekau Shipu.
- 2008: Boreal River was established. That July, founders Danny Peled and Letha Henry paddled with Mutehekau Shipu on their own on a 9-day exploratory trip.
Danny and Letha saw multi-day trips on the Magpie as a way to combine the excitement and accessibility of rafting with the deeper connections, learning, and rejuvenation that you can get from a long expedition. A couple of weeks later they ran their first commercial trip with support from nearby communities.
It was a magical summer and the company was born.
Our commitments
Respect
We have deep respect for the woods and waterways with whom we live, work, travel, and play, and for the people who have thrived with that land and who continue to thrive in relationship with it today. We follow guidance from the people on whose territories we travel.
Safety
With years of practice, training, and river miles under their PFDs, our guides are experts in their fields. Most Boreal River Expeditions guides are also rescue instructors with Boreal River Rescue. Our guides set the standard for river safety in Canada.
Relationships
Our river programs wouldn’t be possible without close relationships with local businesses, farmers, communities, knowledge-holders, tourism operators, families and other service providers. We value community and relationship-building with every trip and adventure we plan, often bringing locals on free adventures so they can explore their own backyards and so we can learn from them about the places they love.
We value our relationships with every person that participates in every trip. We love meeting people and learning from and about each other.
Protecting rivers, land, and people
We recognize that travel and outdoor trips have a carbon footprint. While we attempt to minimize negative impacts, we strive to have a significant positive impact on the planet by:
Facilitating positive experiences
Our guiding principle is to help more people have positive experiences on the water and in the outdoors. We do this on rescue courses by educating outdoor professionals — to help empower them to facilitate safe experiences for others. On expeditions, we help young people to spend time with rivers and actively engage with students and youth leadership groups to support land-based education.
We’re committed to providing free programs for underserved communities. We provide Ciel et Bois for free to community service organizations for up to six nights per year. We teach ice safety and water safety courses for free to high school students in Western Quebec, and we bring local people on free trips with their rivers.
Activism and conservation
We’ve been involved with the movement to protect the Mutehekau Shipu since we started Boreal River. We support and raise funds for SNAP QC and Ottawa Riverkeeper.
Recently, with the help of author Robert Macfarlane and his friend Wayne, we launched a GoFundMe campaign — ‘Help to Heal a River’ — raising $10,000 to clean a beach campsite on Lac Magpie that somebody left littered with trash.
Finally, we source as much of the food for our river trips from local farms, fishers, and suppliers.
