First of all, be sure to be familiar with the Sail Canada path to cruising certifications.

The Start Keelboat Sailing (SKS) Instructor Standard is an opportunity for sailors with a consistent experience to join a condensed program. At the end of the standard, they can deliver standards to beginners for introductory and discovery courses.
The SKS instructor standard is a great opportunity for Sailing schools focused on dinghies and for Clubs to offer keelboat programs to their clients and members.

"big" boats vs small boats

The SKS instructor standard is in fact 2 different standards : the SKS Standard boats for boats up to 12 meters, and the SKS Small Boat for boats up to 8 meters.
Here are the specificities of each standard to help determine which is more adapted to your profile :

*An up to date profile includes Sail Canada membership and all CANSail instructor prerequisites (General First Aid +RCR, CCEP, etc).

For more details about the content of the standard, please refer to the dedicated document on the Sail Canada website.

Overview of the calendar and the prices

How to obtain the certification ?

The registration deadline is May 1st.

Following the examination of your application, at the condition that your prerequisites are all submitted, we will inform you if you have been selected to join the certification process.

You may first send us your Résumé so that we can inform you if your application can be accepted. Be aware that this does not change the deadline for submitting the complete application.

Keeping your certification up to date

Following your registration, we created your Sail Canada profile and have added all your prerequisites and certifications to it. As soon as you are certified as a Basic cruising instructor, we add this certification to your profile.

Sail Canada annual membership

In order to work as a sailing instructor, to give Sail Canada certification, and to benefit fromSkipper's Plan Instructor liability Insurrance, you need to pay yearly your Sail Canada Membership. Being a Sail Canada instructor is therefore conditionned by your membership, which can only be paid if all your requisites and certification are up to date.

Staying active, which includes paying your annual membership, has also consequences when it comes to updating your certifcations.
Every three years, at the end of your certification validity period, if you have been active every year you will have the opportunity to recertify for the next three years byu attending seminars at the FVQ annual Conference. For instructors who have not kept an active profile, the recertification process is both more time taking and more expensive. They will need to attend the Pedagogy workshop and to pass one exam.
Note that after ten years, if not updated, certifications will be lost.

Instructor Physical Competency and Medical

Every instructor has to proove that his physical condition allows him to skip and manoeuver the boat alone.Physical condition is verified by Transport Canada doctors who will deliver Marine Medical to the instructors(list of doctors accredited by Transport Canada).

For basic cruising instructors who do not give any courses with life on board, Marine medical can be replaced by an Instructor Physical Competency Evaluation. To pass the evaluation, the instructor must show that he is able to do all the elements of the basic cruising instructor on water session alone. New instructors can therefore use their succesful on water session as a Physical Competency Evaluation in order to complete their Sail Canada instructor profile without having to pass their Marine Medical, at the very condition that they will not give any course with live aboard.

The Marine Medical or the Physical Competency Evaluation must be renewed for each recertification, which means every three years.

Registration

With you Sailing Résumé (to dowload our template click here) and pictures of your prerequisites at hand,you can register online until May 11th.