The Outdoor Adventure Naturalist co-op program is a skills-intensive and certification-based diploma program that offers students a broad education in the soft adventure travel and tourism industries.  If you want an adventure career where you truly love what you do, this is the program for you!

This full-time outdoor adventure program is offered at the Ottawa Valley Campus in Pembroke, Ontario, which is surrounded by fantastic natural resources in the beautiful and rugged Ottawa Valley.  Sitting on the shores of the Ottawa River, the campus is in close proximity to world-renowned Algonquin Park, cross country skiing, mountain biking and hiking trails, pristine lakes, and some of North America’s leading outdoor adventure companies.

The success of our program can be partly attributed to our business partner, Wilderness Tours. Our students study at the Pembroke Campus three days a week in courses such as outdoor adventure leadership, no trace camping and wilderness travel skills, ecology, and astronomy, to name a few.

Then they take it outdoors to apply their classroom theory to their hands-on practical experience.   Add in some river rescue, rock wall, rope and challenge course supervision, wildlife tracking, winter travel and survival, wilderness first aid, and photography, and you are ready to become an adventure guide with highly-developed outdoor expertise and nature interpretation skills and knowledge valuable to the outdoor adventure industry.

Together with important business subjects such as marketing, small business and financial management, and computer skills, our graduates have the required business training to step into a supervisory or management role, or start their own adventure or outfitting business.

The program begins each September with classes held for fall and winter semesters.  Students who maintain a high academic standing can take advantage of the paid co-operative education experience during the summer months.  Then students return in the fall for their final semester, graduating at the end of December, just in time to have the advantage of seeking employment opportunities before other college graduates have completed their programs.

Our Outdoor Adventure Naturalist students have a fantastic opportunity to participate in a special course called Rain Forest and Tropical Science which includes a trip to Costa Rica. 

 Additional Information about the Program

• Gear List
• Safety
• Articulation: Diploma to Degree

Practical Training

All practical training takes place at the Wilderness Tours' Beachburg facility two days a week. It is during these weekly skills sessions that our students learn the practical aspects of the outdoor adventure industry and work towards certification as guides in their chosen fields.

These practical training activities include flatwater canoeing, sea kayaking and rafting, cross-country cycling and skiing, winter camping and survival, and many others. Algonquin College's practical training site at Wilderness Tours also includes the use of cabins, hot tubs, and a variety of other outstanding facilities.

On top of all this, there are also four multi-day expeditions: a canoe expedition on the Ontario river system; a fall hiking expedition in Algonquin Park; a winter camping trip in the Ottawa Valley; and a sea kayaking expedition in Georgian Bay.  Students also participate in a student-directed field trip as a final expedition where they get to apply all their trip planning and adventure travel skills.   Whether you want to be an adventure guide, a park interpreter, an instructor of outdoor adventure skills, or an eco-tourism leader--the Outdoor Adventure Naturalist program will  be one of the most challenging and exciting outdoor education experiences you will ever have!

Paid Summer Co-op Experience

Outdoor Adventure Naturalist students also have the opportunity to participate in a paid summer co-op position. Qualifying for and completing the co-op component of the program gives students the additional employment advantage of having an Outdoor Adventure Naturalist Co-op diploma.

Please see the Program of Study for actual courses and descriptions of all courses including a new course called Rock Wall, Rope and Challenge Course Supervision. 

Why is Algonquin College the place for your Outdoor Adventure education? It’s simple: outstanding business partnerships, hands-on experience, certificate-oriented learning (count the number of ‘bag nights’!), solid business and theoretical foundation, professors and instructors who are experts in their fields, and an amazing natural environment.

Last but not least: outstanding value for the educational dollar. Add up the costs of the individual certificates you can achieve, and you will see that our partnership with Wilderness Tours creates substantial value delivered to you.