Harbourfront Canoe & Kayak Centre in Toronto, ON

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Telephone:	+1 416-203-2277
Website:	www.paddletoronto.com
Address:	283A Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON, M5V 1A2 Harbourfront
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:	870 ftThird Street 0.2 miDwight Avenue 0.2 miFifth Street
Categories:	Sporting Goods Rafting/Kayaking

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Bussiness info

Accepted Cards	Credit, Debit
Parking	Private Lot
Bike Parking	Yes

Wheelchair Accessible	Yes
Good for Kids	Yes

Today

Today	10:00 am – 8:30 pm Closed now
Local time (Toronto)	02:14 Friday, 23 May 2025

Business hours

Monday	10:00 am – 8:30 pm
Tuesday	10:00 am – 8:30 pm
Wednesday	10:00 am – 8:30 pm
Thursday	10:00 am – 8:30 pm
Friday	10:00 am – 8:30 pm
Saturday	9:30 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday	9:30 am – 6:00 pm

Description

Specialties

In season, we offer:

* Rentals

* Weekly Social Paddles for Kayaks & Stand-up Paddle Boards

* Group Voyageur Programs

* Kayak Fitness Programs

* Corporate Programs

* Youth Camps

* Boat Storage

.and the best paddling instruction from our friendly and enthusiastic certified instructors! We use Ontario and Canada’s best certification systems to offer you the opportunity to develop safe, fun and functional skills that will benefit you for a lifetime.

Off-season, we offer:

* In-Pool Kayak Instruction for Rolling, Rescue & General Skills

* Social Dinners and Travelogues

* World-Wide Tours

Our lakeside Office is open daily from Victoria Day Weekend until the end of September.

History

Established in 1980.

Located on the edge of beautiful Lake Ontario for over 30 years, the Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre has become one of the most popular urban paddling centres in North America. We facilitate Group Kayaking, Voyageur Canoe Tours, Corporate Team Building Events and the very popular Stand-Up Paddleboarding courses; all within the Toronto Harbour with its 13 scenic Islands — just a 20-minute paddle away!

Meet the Business Owner

James Kowalewski, Dave and Clare Corrigan C.

Business Owner

Dave & Clare (Owners) and James (General Manager) are so happy to see the Centre’s continued growth each year with it’s new equipment, expanding course offerings and friendly staff to assist you and the new guests joining the paddling community even better. Dave always has time to chat and loves guiding the weekly social paddles. He still burns the occasional burger at the BBQ that follows. Clare works behind the scenes from home taking care of the finances and most importantly raising 3 great kids.

James, our general manager and one of our great Instructors, loves making everyone feel welcome and is often seen overseeing his self-crafted specialty Corporate and Kayak Fitness Programs.

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10 reviews of Harbourfront Canoe & Kayak Centre

No registration required

Cindy L.

Place rating: 5
Vaughan, Canada

Everyone was so friendly. Super accommodating. It’s also fun to meet all the people from different places (most were tourists). COME EARLY if you are driving, because parking is near impossible. Had a great experience! Thank you Paddle Toronto!

Wendy L.

Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada

Great staff (from the back office to the Front line) and fun tours!

Faiza K.

Place rating: 4
North York, Canada

This is such activity to do in the summer! Luckily I was part of a meetup group that booked through this business to do a paddle boating experience to the Islands! It was amazing — we had the voyageur canoes and all the staff/guides were great!
Life jackets and paddles were lined up for us when we got there and we got simple and easy instructions on how to paddle, safety instructions and some fun facts about the canoes themselves.
While paddling they would tell us which side needed to paddle more, or when to paddle faster etc. Instructions were easy to follow which made it easy for even beginners to learn and feel safe
Definitely something I would do again!

Alex F.

Place rating: 4
Mississauga, Canada

Tried a tandem kayak here.
Pricey for an hourly cost, so plan to pay for the day, much more worth it.
The tandem only required one person to have paddling experience. It’s really easy to keep balanced as well.
They have small lockers to leave anything you want behind for your trip.
Upon getting geared up, we got a quick instructional and were told to do a quick isolated paddle just to make sure we were ok to get around.
The instructor also repeated important points that we needed to keep in mind.
Good basic rental place with all the service that would be expected of them.

Andrea H.

Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada

I’ve since become a regular and taken several more classes (Paddle Canada’s SK1, Fall Paddling, Rolling) and have my own boat. The social paddles are a great way to get out on the water on a weeknight, and the instructors are incredibly good, patient, and generous teachers who treat us as developing members of a paddling community, not just students. My first rolling class got me from being really terrified that I’d done a very dumb thing by voluntarily signing up to spend time upside down and underwater with my legs in a boat to being able to do a paddle-float assisted roll and to feel comfortable practicing the steps leading to a full roll. My only small complaint is that some of the boat storage spots are really awkward, especially if you’re short. HCKC has been doing a lot to build a paddling community on the waterfront — and to protect that waterfront. A real treasure.

Maggie T.

Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada

This is SO FUN! PARADISE at Door Step!
My friend owns kayaks at cottage in Muskoka so I have done kayaking before at best cottage country in the world. But this Kayaking experience at Harborfront just blew it out of water!
First of all, it’s just very affordable. Single person kayak is $ 30 and douple seated one is $ 40. NO TAX! Credit care is required though to be on hold in case kayk go missing etc. And it’s just convenient to get to rather than going to cottage.
Secondly, the lake area at Harborfront is wide open. it’s just huge wide open space with shore of sky scrapers and CN Tower. Sptacular view with blue sky. tcountry usually the lake isnt as wide or the visual surrounding just trees or cottages. You get to see huge air planes swoosh above in front of you as they land on Porter Airport.
U will be equiped with life jacket n whisle, if anything just blow 3 times, the staff would come rescue.
The staff is extremely patient and friendly. They understand you can be doing it first time and they help you to put on and adjust equipment. Does unnerving quite a bit!
TRUST me if you feel nervous trying it out, all the stress would melt away as soon as u float in water. Only excitement to fallow.
If you are going on a date, pick the two seater one instead of two single one. So u get to chat and figure out if you two work well together to paddle.
Make sure wear SUNglasses! It does get bright on the late :)

Jorge L.

Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada

Totally love it. Totally love it. Totally love it.
The staff at this place (called Paddle Toronto too) is awesome. Very friendly and accommodating and WITHOUT attitude.
The front staff is helpful with your questions from giving you maps and directions. They sell water too if you forgot to bring one (and I always do) and Gatorade cheaper than you can find on the island. There are clean washrooms for you to change or pee.
A locker is provided for things you don’t want to carry on canoe or kayak.
Someone will assist you get off the kayak and launch. They’re all helpful too. They’ve assisted men and women in different shapes and sizes. Though even without them, you can easily launch yourself and get back as the dock is sloped.
I had my «official» kayak training here. Awesome. I didn’t realize that I had been paddling the wrong way. Some techniques are useful including maneuvering the foot pedal, maneuvering to your side and some safety tips. I recommend too.
The price is more expensive than American rowing but this is Toronto! If you want to save money and you think you will paddle a lot during the season… buy the prepaid pass. You’ll save about $ 25.
Don’t be cheap and paddle for an hour. You’ll only be on the harbour. Boring. Paddle to the Island. There are potentially some bird watching opportunities. The water is calm — I have paddled by myself. The water on the island is too shallow and a bit creepy because you see the plants below.
Be prepared to spend the whole afternoon. Totally worth it.
So I’m impressed. I’m coming back. My back hurts. But my torso loves it! Paddle away!

Elaine K.

Place rating: 4
Markham, Canada

What a great day!
The staff who work here are super friendly and helpful. They explained everything very well to us and we were easily able to navigate and paddle our way to the Toronto islands. They have great life vests that don’t get in the way of paddling, which I was very happy with.
The only thing is that I thought the prices were a bit steep. $ 85 (taxes in) for a two person kayak for the day.

Bobby N.

Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada

These guys are awesome!
From renting boats, to kayaking to group events they cover just about everything.
I have recently bought a voucher for their speedboats (not very fast) but in the last month or so I have been kayaking, voyager canoeing, and sailing with them and the one big thing that I always notice is the staff are super friendly and great instructors.
They provide lockers on site so you can put your valuables away although I had no problem taking my SLR camera on a kayak and just keeping a bag by my feet, use a skirt and it prevents water coming in.
Not sure how much the sailing would cost as it was a work event but our skipper, John, was awesome, instructed us well on how to sail and gave my group confidence in being able to participate in our work regatta.
Recently organised a UYE to rent canoes and kayaks for the day — again reasonable price, staff instructed everyone on safety and the actual equipment was in great condition. We paddle to the centre islands where we found an area to pull our crafts up and relax at the carousal café for food and drink. All in all a great experience although it does get pretty tiring getting across the lake. Recommend tandem kayaks so the workload is shared.
Will continue using these guys for future outings on the lake, along with the speed boat I want to go on their evening group events and maybe even try the paddle boards.
Great job guys.

Bijan V.

Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada

A small place just behind the Marine Police station on the waterfront, this place has got all the kayaks and canoes you need for a nice paddle on — the steadily getting cleaner — Lake Ontario and around the Toronto Islands. You should definitely try and find the little stream that cuts through the island and passes through Centreville and the picnic areas and such — absolutely beautiful on a nice summer day.
Costs $ 25/hour to rent a kayak or $ 60 for a whole day, they actually have good equipment that’s been taken care of. Their staff are super friendly and will help set you up and make sure everything is okay before you go.
They do have a changeroom (as well as free lockers to leave your stuff) there if you want to get those swimsuits on and get ready for flipping the kayak (highly not recommended in lake Ontario, you might find your face in the water scraping a bunch of pieces of feces — human or other).
If you’re looking for parking, I «think» I overheard on of their staff tell another customer that they provide discounts to the garage parking on Queens Quay. I’d personally just take public transit, Queen’s Quay is a place you just have to walk along.