Rowing Clubs in Canada: Ontario, Quebec, BC and Alberta

This guide is for anyone looking for a rowing club in Canada, from university students to adults taking up the sport. Rowing Canada Aviron counts over 120 clubs, and the scene is older than many expect: Aviron Lachine dates from 1863, and the first Royal Canadian Henley Regatta was held at St. Catharines in 1903.

How Canadian rowing is organised

Rowing Canada Aviron was founded in 1880 as the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen. Ten provincial associations sit beneath it, and in practice they’re the most useful place to look. Row Ontario lists 50 member clubs and has a profile of most of them. Rowing BC has a directory by region, and Aviron Québec lists clubs in Quebec. RCA also has a national find-a-club page with province filters. If you’ve rowed in Europe, compare this with how German rowing clubs are organised.

The clubs

Club	Founded	Location/water	Who it’s for	Website
Argonaut Rowing Club	1872	Toronto, Lake Ontario	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	Row Ontario
Hanlan Boat Club	1975	Toronto, Outer Harbour	competitive, recreational, learn-to-row	Row Ontario
Don Rowing Club of Mississauga	1878	Mississauga, Credit River	juniors, masters, recreational	Row Ontario
Leander Boat Club of Hamilton	1927	Hamilton, Hamilton Harbour	juniors, university, learn-to-row	Row Ontario
St. Catharines Rowing Club	1903	St. Catharines, Martindale Pond	juniors, competitive, recreational	Row Ontario
London Western Rowing Club	2020	London, Fanshawe Lake	competitive, recreational, learn-to-row	Row Ontario
Ottawa Rowing Club	1867	Ottawa, Ottawa River	university, masters, recreational	Row Ontario
Aviron Lachine Rowing	1863	Lachine, QC, Lac Saint-Louis	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	avironlachine.ca
Aviron Montréal	n/a	Montreal, Olympic Basin, Île Notre-Dame	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	avironmontreal.com
Calgary Rowing Club	n/a	Calgary, AB	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	calgaryrowing.com
Vancouver Rowing Club	n/a	Vancouver, Coal Harbour	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	vancouverrowingclub.ca
Burnaby Lake Rowing Club	n/a	Burnaby, Burnaby Lake	juniors, masters, learn-to-row	blrc.ca
Victoria City Rowing Club	n/a	Victoria, BC	n/a	vcrc.bc.ca

London Western is the result of a 2020 merger between London Rowing Club and Western Rowing Club. Aviron Montréal says it has been running for almost 40 years but gives no exact date.

Regattas and the season

The Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines is the fixed point of the year. The 2026 race week ran from 3 to 9 August, with the RCA Canadian Masters Championships on 2 August at the same venue. St. Catharines Rowing Club hosted the first Henley on 7 to 8 August 1903, and it was formed that year mainly to run the event.

Other racing is regional. Ottawa’s crews race at the Ontario Rowing Championships, and Rowing BC’s events calendar shows a Victoria regatta at the end of October, so the west coast keeps going later in the year.

As a rule of thumb, central Canada’s water season runs from spring to autumn, with ice closing it over winter. Clubs move indoors: Calgary’s pitch is “Train in the winter. Row stronger in the spring.” London Western’s high school programme rows indoors in winter, and its season runs into spring.

Joining as a beginner or visitor

Summer is the usual entry point in Ontario. Leander in Hamilton runs a summer learn-to-row, and London Western runs its learn-to-row and recreational programmes in summer. Don’s learn-to-row camps start at age 12, and Argonaut runs Learn to Row for novices regularly.

If you’ve done a course and want to keep going, look for what comes next. Leander has an adult recreational programme for learn-to-row graduates, St. Catharines has an adult recreational league open to any experience level, and Ottawa has an Adult Rowing League for novices.

Fees aren’t quoted here because they vary by club and by programme, so ask whether provincial registration is included.

In Quebec, language matters. Aviron Lachine’s adult beginner courses are for ages 21 and up, and its site is in French. Aviron Montréal has English and French sites.

How to pick a club in Canada

• Check the water’s exposure. Argonaut rows in Humber Bay near a break wall, and Hanlan uses the Outer Harbour behind the Leslie Street Spit. On a big lake, shelter decides how many days you get out.
• Ask about touring or coastal. Hanlan runs coastal rowing and touring through Ontario Adventure Rowing, and Lachine offers Beach Sprints. For another country’s mix of coastal boats and beach sprints, see rowing clubs in New Zealand.
• Students. Ottawa’s senior programmes link with the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, and Leander runs a fall programme with McMaster. London Western shares its boathouse with Western University.
• Consider club size. Don has about 230 members in a typical year and London Western 75 to 100.
• Para rowers. Calgary and St. Catharines both name para programmes, and Vancouver lists para and adaptive rowing.
• Year-round fitness. London Western has a dry-land facility on Wonderland Road, which is worth asking about at any club if you want to train through the winter.

New to rowing? Read rowing for beginners and the reasons to join a club. Moving from Europe? Try the UK guide, or see all club guides.

Know a club we’ve missed, or found a mistake? Tell us.