Our Environmental Commitment

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 a 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 PFD’s, 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 who 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 Quebéc, 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 traips from local farms, fishers, and suppliers.