We need hiking guides to lead our incredible hiking tours! We are looking for guides with experience to lead tours in the Yukon. On Vancouver Island, we train and mentor guides from the start of their guiding careers, giving them the experience to lead independently.
We have several amazing canoeing and kayaking tours in the Yukon, eastern BC and Vancouver Island. We are looking for qualified guides for these activities.
Our guides are employed, not contractors. Employed guides are insured, for both liability and for Workers' Compensation. Employed guides have employer paid CPP and EI contributions, contractors do not-they have to pay it all themselves. The fact is, employed guides are paid better than contract guides.
Stated wage rate (daily wage rates) |
Real wage rate-employed (with employer paid benefits, EI and CPP, and vacation pay) |
Real wage rate-contractor (paying out employer portion of CPP as self-employed) |
$180 |
$202.09 |
$169.29 |
$200 |
$224.54 |
$188.10 |
$225 |
$252.61 |
$211.61 |
$250 |
$280.68 |
$235.13 |
$275 |
$308.74 |
$258.64 |
$300 |
$336.81 |
$282.15 |
$325 |
$364.88 |
$305.66 |
Employed guides have much of their gear supplied, contractors have to have their own gear, at a considerable cost.
Sea to Sky Expeditions and its sister company, Coastal Bliss Adventures, have a wide variety of tours, giving their guides the opportunity to grow through many experiences, and a bigger guide community.
We provide essential training and advancement opportunities.
We have a structured employment approach, so you know where you stand, and how you can advance.
We hire people that really want to work outdoors and have a sense of purpose. We really look for the following qualities:
✔ Confident with people, easy with a conversation.
✔ Interested in people and want to help them experience the outdoors.
✔ Proactive to take care of problems and to find solutions with few resources.
✔ Loves to learn and pick up new skills.
✔ Has a real and driving reason to be a guide.
✔ Is looking for mutual commitment for the future.
We have hired guides with little or no qualification, just experience outdoors and a real reason to guide. Of course, that is a rare find, but not being a fully qualified guide does not prevent you from working for us. We want our guides to work our season, which runs from mid-May into October.
We do multiple activities, so guides that have broader experience and qualifications are better suited to what we do, particularly for full-time work.
Qualifications We Look For:
❤ SKGABC Level 1 Guide Certification
❤ Wilderness First Aid(40-50 Hour) Certification with CPR-C
❤ Paddle Canada Basic or Level 1 Instructor Certification
❤❤ SKGABC AOG or Level 2 Guide Certification
❤❤ Advanced Wilderness First Aid (80-90 Hour) Certification
❤❤ Class 4 Unrestricted Commercial Driving License
❤❤✚ Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) Assistant Hiking Guide Certification
❤❤✚ SKGABC Level 3 Guide Certification
❤❤✚ Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training (COLT)
❤❤✚ Canoeing Instructor Certification
There are some obvious overlaps in the listed certifications that we love to see. Certifications do not guarantee anyone a lead guide position. That comes with experience and trust. What we really look for on top of certifications is:
❤❤❤ Lots of experience outdoors and demonstrable experience leading and taking responsibility for others.
We have multiple tasks that must get done to serve our clients every day. Rarely do we have an employee or contractor that focuses on one activity only. The people we hire full-time will be doing all of the following over the course of the season, depending on qualifications:
➫ Renting gear and assisting clients for tours at our dock in Cowichan Bay
➫ Guiding short kayak tours in Cowichan Bay
➫ Leading or assisting on kids' camps in Cowichan Bay or Maple Bay
➫ Prepping food and gear for multi-day hiking and kayaking tours
➫ Assisting on multi-day hiking or kayaking tours
➫ Driving clients and kids to activities
➫ Creating posts and marketing materials
➫ Cleaning and maintaining gear and premises
➫ If fully trained and qualified, lead multi-day hiking or kayaking tours
We have qualification levels that we call Guide & Outfitter I, II, III, IV, V, VI, or VII (GO-I through VII). We also have Technical Operations positions I, II, III, or IV (TECHOPS-I through IV). Responsibilities and advancement are based on these levels. Most people start at GOI or GOII, or TECHOPS-I or II. TECHOPS-I and II, and GO-I and II would be working mostly at our dock and doing prep work. GO-I and II are qualified to lead and assist on short kayaking tours, and may be qualified to lead day tours for birding (with interpretive knowledge), lead and assist on kids' day camps, and to drive clients (with proper driving license).
We will also need guides for our sister company, Coastal Bliss Adventures, which exclusively does multiday tours in BC. Together, our guides have unsurpassed opportunities for variety in guiding.
Details of our positions and scales can be seen here.
For the 2024 season, we are looking to fill the following positions:
☑ Dock Technician 1 and 2, TECHOPS-I, II
☑ Operations Technician 1, 2, TECHOPS-III, IV
☑ Administrative Technician 1, 2, TECHOPS-III, IV
☑ Lead Guides: GO I, II, III, & IV (SKGABC AOG, Level 2 and 3)
Sea to Sky Expeditions will also be looking for qualified hiking guides for multiday hiking tours, GO-V through VII.
How to apply for a guiding job:
Send a cover letter or cover email with the following:
☑ What your main interest is
☑ An explanation of how your qualifications fit the job you are seeking
☑ When you can be available for the season, beginning and end
Attach a resume that includes the following information:
☑ A list of all your relevant guide/outdoor skill certifications, including the certifying body and a link
☑ A complete list of guiding work experience with details. Details should include:
✚ a list of multiday commercial trips for each employer
✚ locations of each trip
✚ number of days of each trip
✚ your role as lead guide, assistant guide, or other
☑ A complete list of personal trips you have taken that you want considered as experience, including:
✚ locations of each trip
✚ number of days of each trip
✚ the group size you were with and your role
☑ Please include the other, more traditional resume items, such as other work experience and interests, languages spoken, etc.
Resumes that do not include the required details may not be considered.
"Let me start by making sure that our collective appreciation of your trip and your guides to the Johnston Strait this last week gets official. Simply put, for my part just about every expectation was not only met but well exceeded. Thanks for that!"
"Nahanni trip was just great and Janell and I were so pleased. Your guide Adam worked extra hard but still did a wonderful job. Can't say enough good things about your company!"
"A few days ago I finished a wonderful trip through the Bowron Lakes Chain. Your superb guides, Georgia and Vick, with their bright attitudes and professional competence, made a great trip fantastic. Did I mention the food? It was outstanding!"
"While I have only used one other outdoor company, REI, to Peru last year, I check around from time to time and can say with confidence STS is an excellent bargain. The spirit in which the adventures are handled are a cut above. Excellent Bargain"
"Gary and Annalee, we would like to thank you for showing us the best the West Coast Trail can offer, and your support keeping us safe and encouraging us along the way. As you mentioned, just before our last chance to fill our boots together before reaching Bamfield Beach, this was truly a life-changing event. We are so happy we were able to share this with you."