Why Work for Rafting NL?

First all, heard of COVID-19?  Here in Newfoundland & Labrador we have the highest vaccination rate in the world and have been very successful of keeping life as close to normal as possible throughout the pandemic.  Newfoundlanders know how to pull together and do what it takes to weather a storm!  We’re expecting a summer full of festivals, hugs, and friendships across the island! 

Another great reason to work here is simply that Rafting NL is awesome!  We offer a fun working environment, great wages, big bonuses, frequent staff meals, and awesome staff events! Most importantly, we accept that raft guides are PROFESSIONALS and deserve to be treated like professionals.  We like to start off our season with an EPIC guide-only WEEK on the famous Main River – which features 24km of continuous class 3/4/5 (depending on flow) rapids in the most beautiful location you could imagine! Every summer we shut down the business for a full day in the middle of our peak season so our staff can go together for George St. Fest (http://www.georgestreetlive.ca/), the biggest party in the province! Our annual staff moonlight paddle is another experience that you won’t soon forget! We simply do things differently in Newfoundland & Labrador!

We’re a family run company that has always treated our staff as extended family. We work hard, but we also play hard, and we treat our team as part of the business. We WANT you to share your opinions; we WANT you to ask questions and suggest changes; we WANT you to stick up for yourself and promote your ideas! We run the business with the firm belief that we should always surround ourselves with passionate whitewater enthusiasts and should ALWAYS listen to what they bring to the table. We are all in this industry because we LOVE it! As a team, all of our collective experiences simply help make a better experience for our clients.

We run whitewater rafting trips on two different sections of the Exploits River: the Badger Chute and the Exploits Canyon. Our Badger Chute trips are family friendly whitewater adventures that includes about 12km of the Exploits River. Most of the trip is flatwater or swifts, but we do run a couple really fun class three rapids as well as a couple class two surfing holes. This is a fun trip, not a challenging one. Days on the Badger Chute include food (so you will also end up with a free lunch) and typically involve about six hours of work (or about 4hrs for express trips).

Our Exploits Canyon run is an awesome section of the river featuring an 80ft vertical rock canyon and some really, really fun rapids. While we’re still only working with class three rapids, they are big class threes and continuous. The big crashing waves can be over 10ft, so they provide our guests with a real thrill while still being safe. You will LOVE the Canyon, everyone does! Canyon trips are awesome as they are super fun, and also reasonably fast and easy. Typical Canyon trip is roughly 3hrs of work, and we run up to three times a day. It is not uncommon for a guide to work all three trips and walk away with a really, really nice pay!

We have three Exploits Canyon trips: "Adventure", "High-Adventure" and "Extreme-Adventure". The "Adventure" trip is run like most rafting trips in that the guides make every effort to keep clients in the boat and the boat upright. The "High-Adventure" uses the same section and the same boats, but is run as more of a "guide fun" trip - so we start with a cliff jump, and we hit every awesome wave, often flipping the rafts and often having clients swim the monster rapids. The Canyon is awesome because it's big water, but very safe. The "Extreme" run uses tiny 4-person rafts instead... and they LOVE to flip!

So we are definitely NOT the Ottawa River, but you will come to love the Exploits just the same! 

If you are looking to work in a company where your voice will be heard and your ideas will be put to full use, we are your company!  If you love to work hard, and also relax/play hard, we are your company!  If you want to work for a family that actually cares about their staff, we are obviously your company as we often cook big team breakfasts and shut down several evenings each summer for big team suppers!    

We will not ask you to suffer through your first year on promises of a better 2nd year – we treat all of our first-year guides with the same respect as our returning guides. We judge you on what you bring to the team, not by how long you have been here or how many years you have been rafting. Some of our best team members have been 1st year college students that just happened to have mad skills and great ideas. In fact, two of our managers started with us as first year students and they are now helping to run the company!

At Rafting NL we accept as a fundamental unalterable truth that all humans deserve to be treated equally. There is no need to list specific qualifiers, the policy is just that simple.  We are looking for great raft guides, kayakers and team players.  We have zero preference regarding race, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc, etc – all humans deserve complete equality.   We as a company accept that it has been a great deal more difficult to succeed in this industry for people of colour, women and minority groups; we acknowledge that it has not been a level playing field, and that the rules have been unfair.  We accept that our business is using land that was not ceded by the indigenous Beothuk people that were here for thousands of years before us, and we do our best to respect and care for that land.  We cannot right the wrongs of others, but we do absolutely commit at all times to treating all team members, customers, and members of our community as equal humans. We support all peaceful movements with the same goals.

So you never thought of rafting in Newfoundland?  That’s okay, neither had we until we moved here!  Newfoundland & Labrador is without a doubt Canada’s best kept secret.  This island boasts some of the friendliest people in the world, and some of the most stunning landscapes in Canada.  I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials, but here are a few of the best:

Bottom line, we’re the best rafting company in the world (at least the best we have ever owned…) on the best island in the world (at least in our opinion…), so how could you not want to come work with us?!

Guiding opportunities begin late May and continue on to the end of September. We ask that all guides stay to the Labour Day weekend but we are very accommodating with our guides who need to return for school. The later in the season you stay, the bigger your bonus!

Interested in applying?  Don’t delay as we plan to have our full team in place soon!

SEND AN INTERESTING COVER LETTER AND RESUME TO: INFO@RAFTINGNL.CA

Hope to see you on the Exploits River!


(we only hire the best and brightest...)