June 30, 2026

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a number of people in our industry about what was happening this summer, and the point of agreement that everybody came to, was that we need new boaters. The issue is not that becoming a boater is not a popular idea, it’s the perception that boating is expensive. With the current political and business environment of rapidly escalating prices, rising interest rates, rapidly changing tariffs and taxes all clouding the issue, it’s hard for buyers to find their way through it.

In spite of that, even just amongst friends and acquaintances, I’ve recently spoken to several people who are shopping for a used boat to start boating. I’ve also seen some good advertising from dealers promoting their used boat inventory, so clearly, there are used boats available in the market. But I don’t think a lack of boats for sale is the problem. The challenge is that new boaters don’t have any experience in “how to go boating”, let alone how to go boating safely. As an industry, we’re understandably tilted towards selling new boats more than we are to creating new boaters. Well, we have some ideas on how to help you, to help potential new boaters to get going.

In this edition of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest the CanBoat organization (formerly Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons) has again provided us with a ready to use story on learning how to go boating. That appears just below with the title, “Why Take a Boating Course?”.

You can use this (with acknowledgement) for free. The advice may help your future buyers to feel confident and ready to buy.

On this same “new boater” topic, in Canadian Boating magazine we are also supporting the industry with detailed, user-friendly editorial on how to get into boating. We have a series of new stories including feature stories on the major boat rental organizations, their hands-on boater training programs and the real life prices to try out boating for a summer.

The rental organizations provide a lot of resources including training, and although a year subscription is not inexpensive, it’s an absolute bargain compared to buying a new boat if the buyer has a bad experience or discovers that they don’t know how to safely use the boat.

Another story we are excited about for Canadian Boating this fall is a story that profiles three different couples between 30 and 40 years of age who have taken the plunge to buy their first boat (used in all cases). We report on the experiences that they are having, real costs and prices,  and how well it’s working out for them.

Watch for those stories and share them with your customers who may be reluctant to take the plunge. They may discover that the water is fine!

As we begin high-season for the summer of 2026, we want to wish you and your teams every success this summer. Fair weather and fair winds!

Andy Adams – Editor