Call for Paddling Volunteers

We are inviting 400+ local canoers and paddlers to join us for a large-scale art project. Volunteers will paddle approximately 120  canoes in a coordinated slow-moving procession.

4 days
400+ local volunteers 
15 paddle captains
1 epic celebration of Lake Ontario along the Toronto Waterfront

In Fall 2025, The Bentway is excited to partner with artist Melissa McGill to present a large-scale canoe procession that will write the lake’s colour story in the sky and reflect its story on the water. We invite 400+ local canoers and paddlers to join us for this monumental happening. Volunteers will paddle approximately 120 canoes in a coordinated, slow-moving procession. An epic celebration of Lake Ontario along the Toronto Waterfront, Melissa McGill works to map Toronto’s harbour and waterfront biosphere with the lake’s own vocabulary expressed through its natural colour palette. By giving visual voice to this underappreciated liminal realm, the project invites us to shift our perspective and learn from nature’s wisdom and creativity.

McGill is developing this site-specific natural colour story in collaboration with Jason Logan of the Toronto Ink Company and local Indigenous wisdom keepers. Together, they gather and work with natural colour from the lake and shoreline to activate the creative expression of the lake itself. These colours will be used to create vibrant wind-activated colour-field paintings that fly above the canoe procession to communicate Lake Ontario’s vitality, above and below its waters. They speak the lake’s language. 

Carrying these colour-field paintings, the canoe procession will activate the Toronto Waterfront to write the lake’s colour story in the sky and onto its waters. This coordinated action will be visible from a wide range of viewing areas, creating an epic communal celebration of Lake Ontario across the city.

and volunteers like you are key to making all of this happen!

You are the story-tellers and the knowledge-keepers; the stewards of the water, of the artwork, and of the inspiring community that we hope to bring together in an unforgettable moment of action and celebration across Toronto’s waterfront.

key dates

Virtual Information Session: July 28 at 6:00pm (to be recorded) – Register here!
Training Date(s): to be determined (evening / weekend)* 
Rehearsal Date Fri, Sept 26, 2025 (evening)* 
Performance Dates: Sat, Sept 27 and Sun, Sept 28, 2025 (full days)* 
*exact timing and locations to be determined

Register for our virtual Information Session on July 28, 2025 at 6:00pm to learn more.

available positions

All volunteers require: 

• High comfort level around water 
• Good balance 
• Ability to swim at least 50m unassisted (in the unlikely event of capsize) 
• A positive, patient, and eager attitude

As skilled leaders and safety experts in the canoe procession, all Paddle Captains will receive a $600.00 honorarium for the project.

Questions? For further inquiries and special requests, please contact Megan Kammerer, Programming Associate at [email protected]