It’s no fun to be a team of one.

The Society strongly believes in making our community a more accessible place. Through our programs, physical infrastructure, and strategic operations, we aim to make paddling, our surrounding community, and our organization one where everyone can belong.

Physical Accessibility

Our Creekside Paddling Centre docks were designed and built to ensure everyone could participate in sport. In 2017, we completed accessibility upgrades to Creekside Paddling Centre with support from the Rick Hansen Foundation. The docks are designed to allow wheelchair users, individuals with mobility issues, or limited sight to safely get out and paddle through: extra-wide dock panels, ramp access to the docks, tactile edge strips, paddler lifts, and specialized dragon boat seating for mobility-limited individuals.

As part of ongoing audits and reviews, our digital platforms are in the process of being reviewed and upgraded to increase accessibility for visually-impaired individuals.

Community and Social Accessibility

We have a duty in our founding mission to reduce barriers to participation in sport, including social barriers.

Through our All Access Programs, we support a range of charities and initiatives that reduce barriers to participation. In addition, we run initiatives directly and support groups, individuals, and teams that include individuals of any background and ability be a part of Vancouver’s social fabric. Supported causes include newcomers to Canada, at risk and high risk youth, refugees, cancer survivors/BCS/prostate cancer teams, mental illness clinics and support groups, senior groups, and more.

In keeping with our mission of encouraging youth participation in our communities, we also encourage youth leadership and participation in every aspect of our organization, and also heavily subsidize youth programming to accommodate youth of all backgrounds and abilities. Recognizing that low-income families barriers in obtaining childcare during the summer, we earmark spots in our Summer Paddling Camps for youth who are referred to us by community partners to paddle for free.

We recognize the histories of the waters and lands we are situated on, and the stories we are privileged to carry forward into the 21st century. As a result, we are committed to working collaboratively with local Indigenous communities and organizations, and with Chinese organizations especially those rooted in Vancouver’s Chinatown to support safe and accessible cultural and recreation activities.

To facilitate active engagement with Vancouver’s aquatic spaces, Dragon Boat BC also runs a series of events that are free to attend and participate in. Our races and Festivals celebrate our community’s diversity and richness, and provide opportunities for belonging and engagement. In addition, we run a series of Community Paddling Days for free, so that everyone gets a chance to try paddling.