SKILS was founded in 2003 by Piper Harris, Michael Pardy, and Andrew Woodford. JF Marleau joins the team in 2004.  Our goals were simple; we wanted to teach more challenging paddling courses and work with the best paddlers across the country to foster a strong Canadian paddlesports community.  To achieve these goals we realized we needed to do a few things differently.

• We don’t compete with other canoeing and kayaking businesses.  Instead, we work with your organizations to train your staff, develop local talent, and make sure our skills and knowledge are shared with others.  
• We travel to work.  This way, we are exposed to a wide range of paddling environments and the best Canadian paddlers.  This fosters an exchange of ideas and serves to strengthen the paddling community.  It also means we are constantly asked to justify our ideas, develop new ones, and keep an open mind.  
• We don't pre-schedule a lot of courses.  Instead, we work with groups and individuals to design custom programs to meet their schedule and needs

 About our logo

Over the years, SKILS has worked across Canada and in the US for a wide variety of organizations.  Some of our partners include: