About Us

Our Story

WCCA was founded by François-Xavier "FX" Gagnon, who grew up paddling and fishing the rivers of Quebec's Laurentian Mountains alongside his grandfather. By 17, he had launched his first outdoor guiding business — teaching whitewater kayaking and leading trips on Quebec's rivers.

In 1999, FX moved west and made the Sea-to-Sky corridor and Coast Mountains his home. Since then, he has worked as a professional outdoor guide — hiking, skiing, biking, and canyoning, in BC and around the world.

In 2019, he settled on Vancouver's North Shore and joined Lions Bay Search and Rescue, where he now serves as a Team Leader and Safety Officer, specializing in swiftwater, high-angle, and mountain rescue. It was through that SAR work that canyoning in BC came into clear focus for him — both how extraordinary the canyons here are, and how few formal standards governed how they were guided.

He set out to change that. WCCA became the first CGI-accredited canyoning operator on Canada's West Coast. FX is now a Trainer and Examiner for Canyon Guides International and a founding member of the Canadian Canyoning Association, helping define the profession at home.

That's the work behind the trips. Adventure with responsibility isn't a tagline; it's the way the company was built.

Adventure With Responsibility

We're West Coast Canyoning Adventures — a CGI-accredited canyoning operator guiding trips through the canyons of British Columbia's Sea-to-Sky and Fraser Valley. We're certified guides first. Our work is to bring people into some of the most extraordinary canyons in Canada, manage risk with care, and leave those places better than we found them.

Meet the Founder: François-Xavier “FX” Gagnon

What We Stand For

Risk Management. Canyoning involves real and unavoidable risks. Our training, equipment, supervision ratios, and decision-making protocols are designed to meet — and in many cases exceed — the highest internationally recognized standards and best practices in the industry. Every guide on our team is independently certified and trained in canyon rescue, rope rescue, swiftwater rescue, and wilderness first aid.

Stewardship

We are committed to protecting the canyons we guide in. From group size and route selection to sanitizing gear to prevent invasive species, every part of our operation is designed to reduce impact on these fragile ecosystems. We have systems to contain and carry human waste, conduct regular canyon cleanups, and are accredited members of Leave No Trace Canada.

Education

Every trip is a chance to learn — the rock, the water, the ecosystems, the techniques of the sport, and the people whose lands we travel through. Interpreting the natural and cultural heritage of these canyons is a big part of what we do, and we share it because we love these places. You'll leave with more than photos.

Craft

Guiding is a craft, refined through training, debriefs, and continuous improvement. We practice until we get it right, and keep practicing so we never get it wrong. We don't push for novelty; we push for better—with regular recertifications from external bodies, internal training for excellence, and international travel to gain knowledge and share ours.

Meet the Team

Our guides are certified canyon professionals with backgrounds in Search and Rescue, swiftwater rescue, and wilderness medicine. Each one is here because they love the canyons, the people, and the work of doing this well.

Francois-Xavier "FX" Gagnon

ProGuide CGI Lvl 3/Level 3 Instructor