Sea Kayak Program Recent Changes

Please note that version 20.00 of the manual is the first release after an extensive program rewrite. This is just a small sampling of changes since its release. Instructors and Instructor Candidates members should read through the entire manual carefully as most changes are not listed below.

The following items have been updated in the Paddle Canada Sea Kayaking Program:

Version 28.00 (January 2026)

Rolling IT prerequisite shifted from Level-1 Instructor to Basic Instructor.
Reiterated and more frequently stated that the use of re-entry aids during all skills courses is allowed.
Clarified teaching Basic Skills in a pool setting.
Changing bracing language to include recovery. For example, Low Brace now is Low Brace Recovery.
Level-2 Skills tidal current limit increase from 4 knots to 3 knots to allow for journeying out of an area of current as speeds are increasing.
Many edits and updates to continue the transition from a paper manual to the on-line based manual.
Added to and cleaned up resources including leadership, rolling, general paddling and games.
General typo and grammatical corrections.

Version 27.00 (February 2025)

Corrected Waterfront Kayak; it did say a Level-1 Sea Kayak Skills Instructor was required to teach the course, however, a Waterfront Instructor is required to teach the course.
New Skills Checklists are now included in the manual.
Updated description of Sweep Strokes in the Waterfront Kayak outline.
Added discussion about re-entries in double kayaks to Basic Kayak and Level-1 Sea Kayak Skills courses.
Expanded the description of torso rotation in Basic Kayak Skills.
Stern Rudder updated in Level-1 and Level-2 Sea Kayak Skills.
Clarification that participants should have some rolling instruction in the water in Level-2 Sea Kayak skills.
Reorganization of navigation section in Level-2 Sea Kayak Skills.
Clarification of participation requirements for scenarios in Level-3 Sea Kayak Skills.
Correction – Waterfront Instructor can be taught by a Waterfront Kayak Instructor Trainer.
IT Transfer process option included in Level-1 IT and Level-3 IT.

Version 26.01 (April 2024)

Cleaned up some duplicated sections in the General Policy section.
Updated some links in the resources in the appendix.

Version 26.00 (February 2024)

General clean-up of wording to read better.
Movement of some definitions to more appropriate sections.
Small grammar adjustments.
Further clarification of who can teach Kayak Rolling clinics.

Version 25.01 (March 14, 2023)

Adjusted the language in the assessment process section for all levels related to instructor certification through mentorship to make it clearer.

Version 25.00 (February 15, 2023)

Updated the ratios for Level-4 Skills; courses can be run with one instructor and one safety boater.
Added the definition of safety boater to the Level-4 skills section.
Updated the ratios for Level-2 Instructor; course can be run with one Instructor Trainer for five participants.
Updated the Environmental Conditions to define the river classes that Level-2 and Level-3 Skills courses can be conducted in when teaching in freshwater locations.
Wording changed in Environmental Conditions to reflect common terminology used in government publications.
Updated prerequisite requirements for Basic, Level-1 and Level-2 Instructor Trainer mentorships.
Added Level-2 Instructor to the list of instructors able to teach a Rolling Clinic.

Older Changes

Version 24.02 (July 12, 2022)

Added in information about certification maintenance clinics.

Version 24.01 (March 21, 2022)

Updated staffing requirements for Waterfront Instructor, Kayak Rolling Instructor and Level-1 Instructor to only allow Instructor Trainers to assist on instructor courses.

Version 24.00 (February 16, 2022)

Updated Level-2 Instructor course minimum staffing requirements. Only Instructor Trainers are allowed to assist on instructor courses.

Version 23.03 (October 25, 2021)

Updated the mandate of Level-3 & Level-4 Instructors so they are no longer allowed to assist on a Level-2 Instructor course.

Version 23.02 (September 15, 2021)

Updated the general program policies section of the manual to match wording of the other Paddle Canada manuals.
General clean-up of wording to read betterer.
Small grammar adjustments.

Version 23.01 (January 8, 2021)

Fix: Minor spelling mistakes.

Version 23:00 (January 5, 2021)

Updated: Participant expectations for rolling in Level-2 have been updated.

Version 22.00 (June 7, 2020)

No content changes, just a bump in version number and updated copyright year.

Version 21.00 (March 25, 2019)

Updated information on Instructor Certification Maintenance clinics to match the camping program manual.
Adjusted the description for “Paddling in Swell or Current” for level-4 skills to clarify class 4 conditions and expected length.

Version 20.04 (September 17, 2018)

Fix: Fixed a typo that had assistants for Level-2 skills listed as Level-2 Instructors. It now reads Level-1 Instructors.

Version 20.03 (June 20, 2018)

Update: We updated the certification maintenance section to match the simplified requirements on the website.
Text adjustment: Based on instructor feedback we standardized our water classification descriptions to match the other disciplines by adding in km/h where speeds were listed in knots.
Fix: Broken URL.
Fix: We forgot to list that Level-1 Instructor Trainers can also teach a Kayak Rolling Instructor course.

Version 20.02 (February 4, 2018)

New Resource: Updated and added in the skills checklists.
Minor layout changes throughout.

Version 20.01 (January 31, 2018)

Fixed the program organization chart. We forgot a level…

Version 20.00 (January 28, 2018)

Program addition: Waterfront Kayak Instructor Trainer is a new level.
Language change: Rescue skills are now called re-entry skills throughout the manual. Instructors should no longer use the terms “victim” or “recovery” when referring to participants or re-entry skills.
Description changes: Water and environment conditions have been converted over to a new classification system.
Program change: Prerequisites have been adjusted and expanded throughout all levels.
Policy change: Level-1 Skills course length has been increased from 12 hours to 16 hours.
Program change: High brace has been removed from Level-1 Skills.
Program change: Most campcraft skills and the requirement for an overnight has been removed from Level-2 Skills.
Program addition: Sculling and hanging draws are new strokes in Level-2 Skills.
Program change: The course length for Level-3 Skills has been increased from 4 to 5 days.
Program addition: The cross bow draw is a new stroke in Level-3 Skills.
Policy change: Level-4 Skills participants are required to carry a VHF radio.
Policy change: As a pilot project, the minimum number of registered participants for the Rolling Instructor course has been reduced from 3 from to 2.
Program addition: Adaptive paddling and inclusive instruction for both Basic and Level-1 Instructor courses.
Policy change: VHF Radio licence (maritime) is now a requirement for new Level-2 Instructors. Existing Level-2+ instructors have until March 2019 to comply with the VHF licensing rule.