Course Administration FAQ’s

Skills Course or Clinic Registration and Administration

How do I create a Skills course, add participants and report the course?

1. Login to Membership Database and select “Courses” then click “Add New” from the menu.
2. Fill in all the course information.
3. Do you want to increase awareness of your course? Click “ON” for “Advertise this course on the Paddle Canada Find a Course website”. By default, this is turned off.
4. Click “Save Changes”. A course ID must be created before you start teaching. This sanctions your course and will make you eligible for insurance during the time-span indicated in your course ID.
5. Click “OK”.
6. The next screen is where you add your course participants. Click “Report” on the right-hand side on the newly created course on the My Courses screen.
7. Search by last name or Member Number for your participant. This is to ensure you do not create a duplicate account for someone who already has a Paddle Canada account from previous courses.
8. If an account appears for that person’s first and last name and the email address matches, click Add. If the email address is out of date or a spelling mistake is present, you can add the person to your course report and edit their email address by click ‘Edit Profile’ by their name in your course report after you’ve added their account to your course report.
9. If no results appear, click “OK”. Then “Add A New Participant”. This will create them a Paddle Canada account, and an email will be sent to them with their temporary password. Continue completing all their information and assign them a course completion status. You can always switch it to “Full Pass” on a later date should you need to. Click “Add this participant” then click “OK”.
10. Within two weeks of the course finishing, go into your course list and update everyone’s status by clicking “Report”.
1. 1. Proceed by selecting Full Pass, Conditional Pass (please write the reason why), and Incomplete (please write the reason why).
   2. if you want to award someone a lower level certification, keep them at Conditional Pass or Incomplete and then choose the lower level award from the drop-down menu.
11. Click “Submit This Report”.
12. Pay the course invoice.

How do I register a clinic and report it?

1. Login to Membership Database and select “Courses” then click “Add New” from the menu.
2. Fill in all the course details and click the box for “Clinic Only – No Certification Will Be Awarded”.
3. When the clinic is over you still need to report your clinic on the system. Select “Courses” and then “Report”. Unlike courses, clinics only require the total number of participants, not full names.
4. Click “Submit This Report”.
5. Click “Instructor Services” then “View My Invoices” to pay the $5 invoice.

How do I create a SUP Yoga Session and report it?

Prerequisite Certifications

• Any level of SUP instructor certification can lead this clinic, with their annual membership activated and current certification.
• Yoga Instructor certification from a recognized and accredited organization.

Clinic Registration Procedure

• Register your clinic as a Basic SUP clinic (check off the SUP Yoga box) and to write in “SUP Yoga session” in the Course ID comments. Fees payable are $5 per class up to a maximum of $50/year. The procedure for registering clinics can be found above.
• Deliver the on-water program as per Paddle Canada Clinic policies in the SUP manual adhering to correct ratios, water conditions, mandatory gear, and according to your level of SUP instructor training.
• If the boards are not being used for navigation (point A to point B) and are anchored, the PFD’s do not need to be worn or carried. Only when the paddler/group is navigating from point A to Point B, then PFD’s must be worn as per Paddle Canada policy.

Instructor Course Registration and Administration

How do I create an instructor course, add participants and report the course?

1. Login to Membership Database and select “Courses” then click “Add New” from the menu.
2. Select the course you wish to add an instructor candidate to and click “Report”.
3. Use the search feature to see if the instructor candidate already has an account and add them if they are not found. Please note that if they have ever taken a skills course they are on the system already so search carefully to avoid duplicates.
4. Complete the course information.
5. Click Save. The course ID must be created before you start teaching as this sanctions your course and will make you eligible for insurance during the time-span indicated in your course ID.
6. Communicate to your participants that they need to sign themselves up for your instructor course. They will get an email after you have added them to the course, inviting them to pay any applicable fees. This must be completed before the course start date.
7. Once you have all your participants in your class list, their course status will default to “Incomplete”.
8. Within two weeks of the course finishing, go into your course list and update everyone’s status including Full Pass, Conditional Pass, and Incomplete.
9. Click “Submit This Report”.
10. Pay the course invoice if applicable.

How do I create an Instructor Certification Maintenance clinic, add participants, and report the course with the new website?

1. Login to your Course Director account, click ‘Instructor Services’ then ‘Register/Report a Professional Development Clinic’
2. Click ‘Add A New Professional Development Clinic’. This must be done at least 12 hours before the clinic starts to sanction it and to be eligible for Paddle Canada Insurance. The sooner your create the course though, the better advertising and promotion it will receive.
3. Add in the information required. You can create one CM Course ID for the highest level one can achieve by attending this clinic or you can create multiple CM IDs for the various levels you are offering for advertising on the Paddle Canada Find A Course page purposes.
4. We strongly encourage ITs and Paddling Schools to click ‘ON’ for Advertising this course on the Paddle Canada website, to increase the awareness of this Professional Development Clinic in your region. Instructors need to recert once every 4 years. Help them find your course!
5. Click ‘Save’
6. Before clinic starts, confirm all attending Instructors have the pre-reqs and an active 2020 Instructor Membership in their account.
7. Within 2 weeks of the clinic finishing, go into the ‘Report’ for this clinic
8. Add in the Instructors who attended this Professional Development Clinic
9. Assign them a status of either ‘Full Pass’ or ‘Incomplete’ (please write reason why for Incomplete and note that the Instructor will be able to see this comment in his/her account)
10. Click ‘Submit This Report’
11. Professional Development Clinic will then go to Completed stage and release the email certificates to the email address on their accounts if they received a Full Pass, as well as recert their Instructor certification for that level in their accounts for another 4 years.

General Course Administration Questions

When adding participants to a course, what do I do if no postal code or email is provided and it is a required field? What if two people give me the same email address?

For Postal Codes use the Canada Post Find a Postal Code.

Course directors must know the unique individual email address of each participant, in order to be able to create a Paddle Canada account for them and add them to the Course ID list. Their email address acts as their account username for logging in, as well as allows them to receive an email certificate if they received a Full Pass in your course.

We understand the challenges of this for spouses that share the same email address, children & youth, and northern communities. The current work around for this is to put in personsfullname_default@paddlecanada.com so that you can proceed with adding them to your course list. If is very important to note however that they will not receive an email certificate in this case or be able to access their Paddle Canada account without a valid email. It is vital to then give them a hard copy certificate if they passed your course.

You can find hard copy certificates in your Instructor account, under Instructor Services, Instructor Resources, Certification Cards.

Please try to encourage each person to provide you with a unique individual email address for them for their Paddle Canada account creation. There is a new children & youth waiver form posted under the Waiver section in your Instructor account that includes an email address request from the parent or legal guardian.

How do I access the Pro Purchase Program available to instructor members from the many Paddle Canada manufacturer partners?

There are many purchase discounts offered to instructor members from many manufacturers but you must be a current paid-up instructor member for the season before you can access the order discounts. To access the details of each pro purchase program, login to your Members Account. Once logged in, click “Instructor Services” followed by the “Instructor Purchase Program” where you will find all the info and contact details on how to access the discounts and place the orders. Each one is a bit different. Place your order, enjoy your new products and promote them to your course participants proudly. We suggest finding out who your local dealers are, for the products you order, so you can send any potential customers their way.

Why can’t I see the Instructor Services menu options when I’m logged into my Members Area?

Only current paid members for the current year have access to the Instructor Services menu including My Courses management options. If you have already paid the annual membership fee and still don’t see this menu option, please email, or call our office during Eastern Standard Time business hours.

Why can’t I create courses or have access to various tasks in my account, even though I’ve paid my annual Paddle Canada membership fee?

There may be an issue with the status of your account. This may be due to your profile reading account status of “Instructor Candidate”. Please contact the office for help.

How old do participants have to be to get certified?

There is no age restriction for Paddle Canada courses or clinics. If the participant is under 18 years of age, there is a different Under the Age of Majority Paddle Canada Waiver that needs to be signed by them and their parents (see Waiver link in your members area). It’s up to you as the Course Director or the paddling school you work for, to set the policy on ages for certain programs. Canoeing has been taught with kids as young as 5 or 6 yrs of age but kayaking often starts around ages of 8 and up depending on availability of appropriately sized gear and boats. Stand Up Paddleboarding would be ages 8 or older again when appropriately sized gear and boards is available.

How old do participants have to be before they can participate without a parent?

There is no age policy for when parental accompaniment is necessary or not, that’s up to you to set a policy as needed as an instructor.

Is there a Paddle Canada certification card that instructors or students get upon completion of the course?

There is a Paddle Canada certification card that can be given upon completion of the course. This can happen in two ways: digital certifications by email (which is generated upon course report to a valid email address on the participant’s Paddle Canada account) or hand-delivered cards in which case it is your responsibility to provide them to participants. Paddle Canada does not mail out cards or badges to participants. There are two types of certificates available to you for download and print in your Members Area (Instructor Services – Instructor Resources – Certification Cards) by clicking on the Certificates & Wallet Cards link: One is the 8.5 x 11 Certificates or 2 x 3-inch business-size cards. These documents are in PDF format and fillable, meaning you can fill them in on the screen and then print them.

Is there a PC badge available to order that instructors can give to students upon completion of the course?

We discontinued production of badges in 2008 due to lack of demand, high production costs and inventory issues.

Is there a PC badge available to order that instructors can give to students upon completion of the course?

We discontinued production of badges in 2008 due to lack of demand, high production costs and inventory issues.

Where do I find copies of the PC and Partner Logos for my promotional course and marketing purposes?

They can be accessed from the Paddle Canada and Partner Logo page which has a link from the Instructor Resources/Resources and Policies page.

Why am I not on the Instructor For Hire list?

There could be a number of reasons why: You have not renewed your membership for the year. Only paid-up members appear on the list. You have not checked off ‘YES’ in the Instructor for Hire box in your members account – Click on Edit My Profile , then scroll down to bottom of Instructor Information section (just below First Aid Info fields) AND you have not checked of ‘YES’ show my profile publicly. You are missing the certification for that specific discipline (contact office or your appropriate Program Development Committee to fix/find missing records). Your account is reading “Instructor Candidate” and not “Instructor”. Your Instructor Course might not be yet submitted to the computer system by your Instructor.

Are there special procedures for Scouts Canada groups with regards to the insurance/waiver agreement?

No, except that they are NOT required to sign the waivers. We suggest continuing to use the waiver forms for the purpose of collection of participant info only. In addition, usage of the form will present a good opportunity for a discussion around the risks associated with the paddling activity.

Is it possible to change a course from Intermediate to Intro after it has been registered? (or any combination like this)

No. You have to cancel the original course and re-register the correct course level with a new Course ID. *There is the ability to award someone a lower level award in the higher level Course ID. Keep them at ‘Incomplete’ or ‘Conditional Pass’ in the course report and use the lower level drop down menu to choose which lower level you wish to grant them. Then get the Course ID to the Completed stage.