Embarking on a new enterprise at any time is a huge accomplishment. Big Canoe Project is doing it during a pandemic. Executive Director Tom Thwaits is very hopeful about launching water based tours, once the stay at home order is lifted, with his new tourism business Big Canoe Project. When Big Canoe Project opens for business this summer they will be offering tours, field trips, corporate team-building, fundraising events and day-camps in big canoes which are watercraft suited to all ages, abilities and the big water conditions on Georgian Bay. A partnership with Clarksburg’s Imagination Studio will offer unique Painting and Canoeing experiences.
“We get people onto the water for transformative experiences," says Thwaits. "There’s no weak link in a big canoe, everyone is in it together.”
A non-profit social enterprise, Tom sees Big Canoe Project as a way to build ecological literacy. “The climate crisis is a huge issue, but if we’re able to give people the vocabulary to talk about, understand and figure out all the moving parts, we’re creating the possibility for change by empowering people.”
