Warrior Adventures Canada
Warrior Adventures Canada is a Canadian non-profit designed for veterans and first responders. Our founders used wilderness and community to recover from difficult deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. Nature and peer-support are both proven to be beneficial to our overall wellbeing and can significantly aid in recovery from trauma and mood disorders. Many aspects of human nature and our psyche are nurtured in a tribal environment in the wild. Challenging yourself in a complex but beautiful environment with others is transformational. Living in a natural environment is essential for a balanced mood and sleep. You’re made to be outside.
If your life needs a course correction, a tough challenge, or you just can’t put your finger on what’s missing— these trips are for you. After meeting, our teams takes a few days of prep and training before we launch on our adventure in the wilderness. We’ll be completely self-sufficient and cut off from the rest for world. The perfect setting to learn about ourselves, connect with like-minded people, and get a better perspective about what’s important in life.
who leads the trips?
Military and first responder guides & mentors volunteer to plan and lead these adventures. Most are ex-participants (WAC Alumni) who believe in the mission and return as guides.
We train ourselves and get outside certifications where required. Some of us are retired, and some are still serving. These are peer-guided adventures.
Wilderness First Aid
Mental Health First Aid
Swift Water Rescue
WAC Leadership School
ORCKA Canoe Certifications
apply online
Apply online for a trip that appeals to you. Be honest about yourself. What are you looking for in this adventure? What experiences & knowledge might you have for the team? How do you like to work in a team environment? You don’t need to have a ton of experience to be on a WAC trip, but we’d like to know who we’re gonna meet!
There are 3 ways to pay for adventures
Self funded
Funded through health care service or outside organization
Apply for WAC assistance for funding via our generous donors
“I never thought that I would be comfortable or would benefit from a group setting...I was very wrong. I found this program extremely helpful. The guides were knowledgeable and provided some very insightful tools to work with”
meet up and train
Depending on where the adventure is, your team will meet up in a wilderness setting and prepare for the trip. Usually this means a campground or wilderness lodge. During these first couple days the team will train in necessary skills for the adventure, pack gear and prepare for being self-sufficient, and start to mesh as a team.
Along with preparing the team for the journey, we also take time to prepare individually. Depending on which guides are available and what trip you’re on; we have lessons or talks on mindfulness, performance on demand, yoga, spirituality, and more.
adventure with a team
Every trip is different. Each one has a different feel and pace. The location, the elements, and the team all make for a new experience every time.
We travel to a new location everyday during our adventures. We work and travel as a team. But there’s always time to build in those moments that make it special. Craft the trip you want to experience with the help of the guides.
Nature is special. These adventures are about more than ‘getting there’. The journey is the destination as they say. Enjoy it all. From the good times to the difficult ones. This is living, this is how you truly feel alive!
there is always hard work
The secret is out: hard work, works. It is essential and unavoidable that we challenge ourselves physically and mentally on these adventures.
WAC guide Brenden rescues two swimmers who dumped in a rapid on the Dumoine River.
A WAC team struggles up a peak along the Great Divide Trail
WAC guide Tara portages a canoe while sipping her morning coffee
reflection and return
By immersing ourselves in these natural cycles, we learn to embrace change as a necessary part of growth, applying this wisdom to our personal struggles and relationships.
Reflecting on time spent in nature is vital because it allows us to disconnect from the constant noise of modern life and reconnect with our inner selves.
This heightened attention not only rejuvenates us but also enhances our ability to listen, observe, and connect more deeply with others when we return to daily life.
WAC adventures are for any retired or serving military members and first responders. These are peer support programs and are led by veteran and first responder guides. The goal of these adventures is for us to learn, grow, and connect with each other. To use nature, hard work, and shared knowledge to become better versions of ourselves. One might even consider our adventures as rituals; something important that’s been lost to history. Reconnecting with nature and others can be life changing. Especially when struggling with change, a loss of meaning, dealing with trauma, or the end of a long career. The greatest teachers in life are Mother Nature and ourselves. Deep inside are the answers we need, sometimes we just need a change of pace or a challenge to see what’s there or what’s missing.