What is the Outdoor Council of Canada?

The Outdoor Council of Canada (OCC) is a nationally incorporated, non-profit, practitioner-owned organization that has been founded to encourage, promote and facilitate safety-oriented outdoor education and recreation for every Canadian.

What is the purpose of the OCC?

The purpose of the OCC is to ensure that the long-standing Canadian tradition of connection with and involvement in the natural world is maintained and nurtured in practical and accessible ways. The decreasing involvement of Canadians in outdoor activities is a cause for concern since:

• Experiential education in natural environments provides unique and valuable learning opportunities.

• Connection with the natural world and the understanding of our impact and dependence upon it is decreasing.

• Low physical activity level results in increased absenteeism from work, lowered productivity, and increased health care costs.

• Use of our national park system and support for our natural heritage is decreasing.

What does the OCC offer to help achieve its mission?

The OCC will:

1. Create a national certification system for outdoor leaders. This system will have the following characteristics:

1. It will be ‘stepped’ in levels from the lowest entry level to expert.

2. Individual certifications will be matched to specific terrain/activity classifications so that there is clear understanding of who is qualified to lead what activities and where.

3. Training will be affordable, accessible and appropriate. This permits individuals who already possess a considerable skill base, such as teachers, to use their existing skills in an outdoor environment.

4. Training itself will be provided by other organizations as ‘approved providers’.

5. There will be a national register of practitioners and their demonstrated competencies. This will be a key resource for practitioners to establish their credentials and for risk managers to streamline their work. It will promote labour mobility and assist in career development.

2. Develop risk management resources for organizations who seek to provide educational or recreational experiences in outdoor settings. These resources will be matched to the training and terrain/activity classification systems so as to:

1. Reduce the administrative load on providers and thus reduce cost.

2. Permit higher levels of safety, and thus improve public user confidence.

3. Establish clear standards for acceptable levels of care.

3. Advocate for outdoor activity and education. This advocacy will rely on the best available evidence and be targeted to further the public interest.

4. Encourage research in to any area that furthers understanding of the issues and opportunities in the realm of outdoor education and activity. We consider it essential that all of the OCC’s initiatives be ‘evidence based’ in their motivation, conception and execution.

Why is there a need for an organization such as the OCC?

1. There is an extreme shortage of leaders and educators who are trained and qualified to lead beginner and intermediate level outdoor activities. The number of these leaders is declining rapidly.

2. There are increasing expectations for the safety of minors in the care of others (custodial leadership), and yet there are few recognized standards that enable risk managers to determine if people are qualified to lead a particular activity. Considerable management resources are wasted ascertaining leadership suitability. Many activities that could be offered safely and inexpensively, with a well-organized infrastructure in place, are not even considered because of the difficulties and expense associated with ensuring due diligence.

3. Land managers are concerned about liability exposure, and are restricted in their ability to make public lands available to many groups. Lack of an organized infrastructure makes it very difficult to objectively distinguish between safe and unsafe practices, and between qualified and unqualified leaders. Considerable amounts of publicly funded administrative effort are wasted addressing this issue, and many opportunities are lost. Regulation on crown lands proliferates in the absence of more rational and efficient processes.

4. An increasing number of parents do not have the ability to introduce their children to meaningful outdoor experiences. Since most people who are active in the outdoors report that that friends and family were the number one reason that they became active; this is an alarming trend.

5. The K-12 education system, and other youth oriented organizations, that have provided the initial introduction and training for young people are no longer doing so for a number of reasons including:

• Many administrators do not know how to deliver programming effectively, efficiently, and safely.

• Most of today’s teachers did not receive the required training during their pre -service education.

• Many risk managers hold the false perception that outdoor activity is more dangerous than other sporting activities. There is strong evidence that well managed activities such as hiking and cross country skiing are much safer than many traditional school based sports

• The outdoor training that is available tends to be tailored to the high-end guiding industry. This makes it too expensive or not appropriate for the needs of custodial leaders

• Increasing standards for risk management, and intensified competition for access to the back country, are resulting in a progressive restriction of organized groups that provide outdoor learning and recreation

• The individual organizations within the entire sector are often financially weak and administratively overloaded. They simply don’t have the resources as separate organizations to create the widespread initiatives required to address the issues listed above.