Our Mission

Project C.A.N.O.E. helps youth at risk build positive futures for themselves. Youth gain self-esteem, life skills and experience healthy interpersonal relationships through wilderness canoe trips and other challenging outdoor activities.

Project CANOE Video Profile

Watch a short video profile about our program , our trips, and our impact on young lives.

Who We Are and What We Do

Project C.A.N.O.E. (Creative and Natural Outdoor Experience Inc.) provides a variety of wilderness canoe trips for youth at risk (aged 13-17). These are youth who would not ordinarily have the opportunity to participate in outdoor activities with their peers due to learning, social, behavioural and/or economic difficulties. Project C.A.N.O.E. is a registered charity (# 88924 9488 RR 0001) and is an accredited member of the Ontario Camping Association.

On canoe trips and during other outdoor activities, our staff work to provide youth with:

• A supportive place for self-directed learning
• Healthy adult role models
• An experience tailored to their individual needs
• A recognition of their individual strengths and a challenge to build upon them
• A positive individual experience in a safe group setting
• An introduction to nature and environmental stewardship

Established in 1976, Project C.A.N.O.E. was initiated by Dr. Herb Batt who believed that wilderness canoe trips could have a beneficial impact on youth at risk. In that first summer, Dr. Batt organized volunteers and equipment and then led a group of youth from the Toronto Children's Aid Society on a canoe trip in Algonquin Park. From those beginnings, Project C.A.N.O.E. was formally incorporated in 1977 and has continued to lead wilderness canoe trips for youth at risk every summer. Over the years, 2,500 youth have participated in canoe trips with the organization. All canoe trips now take place in Temagami, departing from the Briggs Base Camp on Lake Temagami. This basecamp is used by Project C.A.N.O.E., thanks to the generosity of Ontario Parks.

Project C.A.N.O.E.'s campers are drawn largely from Toronto but also from a number of other Ontario communities. They are referred to us by Children's Aid Societies, and other social service agencies, as well as by parents and foster parents. Full subsidies are available for all campers who require them.

We have a very committed summer staff of 14 individuals, as well as two full-time staff and a large volunteer base. All our staff and volunteers share a strong commitment to working with youth at risk. Our staff receive intensive training in many issues facing youth at risk, as well as in the leading of wilderness canoe trips and in wilderness first aid. Because of the high needs of our youth, we have a ratio of one staff person to two campers. During the canoe trip, our staff work with each camper to encourage his or her personal growth. Building self-esteem and helping youth acquire new skills are key objectives of this work.

Another strong component of a wilderness canoe trip with Project C.A.N.O.E. is environmental stewardship. Our staff and youth participants clean up campsites in the Temagami area, removing hundreds of bags of garbage each summer. They are also involved in trail maintenance and in the construction of outdoor toilets.

Project C.A.N.O.E. has had a profound and positive impact on the lives of the more than 2,500 youth who have gone through the program since 1976. One individual who participated in an early canoe trip with Project C.A.N.O.E. noted: "In two weeks with Project C.A.N.O.E., I learned discipline, team work, responsibility and accountability --- lessons no other person or group of people taught me. I still live by the values that Project C.A.N.O.E. infused in me. Thank you for making a difference in my life." Independent evaluations of Project C.A.N.O.E.'s programs in 2002, 2003 and 2004 provide an overwhelming endorsement for the program. Comments from parents include the following: "Project C.A.N.O.E. is providing an essential service for teens trapped by environments they are not thriving in. It gives them a totally new place to explore themselves and the world."; "Project C.A.N.O.E. is an excellent program to help young people develop skills, enjoy nature and make new friends. I highly recommend it to anyone."; "It is evident that the staff genuinely care about the best interests of the campers by going above and beyond." Over 95 per cent of those parents and agency staff who participated in the evaluations reported that Project C.A.N.O.E.'s program was beneficial to their child or client. Moreover, the evaluations also revealed that there was a statistically significant increase in the feelings of self-efficacy --- a key indicator of self-esteem --- for youth attending Project C.A.N.O.E.'s wilderness canoe trips.

Board of Directors

Project C.A.N.O.E. is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors, all of whom are volunteers. The current Directors are:

• David Sugarman, President and Chair
• Brian Freeman, Vice-Chair
• Gordon Beal, Treasurer
• Jayne Edmonds, Secretary
• Janine DeRosie
• Jeff Bowman,
• Jennifer Ferrari
• Warwick Marchant
• Vanessa Mascarenhas
• Ken McCleary
• Tushar Mehta
• Michael Rankin

2007 ANNUAL REPORT
Download PC's 2007 Annual Report.
(Adobe PDF file 512kb)


2007 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Download PC's 2007 Financial Statements.
(Adobe PDF file 493kb)