Seeing Expedition Travel Through Indigenous Leadership: A conversation with Jason Edmunds, Adventure Canada

@Adventure Canada

What does responsible expedition travel look like when it is shaped by lived experience, cultural responsibility, and long-term relationships?

In a recent conversation with Jason Edmunds of Adventure Canada, we explored leadership, Indigenous representation, education, and the evolving responsibilities of expedition cruising. Jason is an Inuk leader, educator, and cultural advocate raised in Nunatsiavut, northern Labrador. His connection to land, sea, and community has shaped how he understands leadership, storytelling, and exploration.

That perspective brings important depth to conversations about where expedition cruising is going, and how it engages with the places and communities it visits.

Place, community, and meaning

@Adventure Canada

For Jason, understanding place begins with recognising that land and community extend well beyond mapped boundaries. Inuit homelands are lived landscapes, shaped by generations of use, knowledge, and relationship. Communities may appear small on a map, yet the surrounding land holds deep cultural meaning and continuity.

This context is essential for expedition travel. Destinations often described as distant or remote are, in reality, places of belonging. When guests understand this, their relationship with a destination shifts, and so does their sense of responsibility while visiting.

A path into expedition cruising

Jason’s introduction to expedition travel grew naturally from his upbringing. Time on the water, guiding visitors, hunting, fishing, and hosting researchers were part of everyday life in northern Labrador. Tourism was never a separate activity; it was woven into community life.

His first formal entry into expedition cruising came through an Inuit training initiative connected to the creation of Torngat Mountains National Park. That experience opened the door to travelling across other Inuit regions, connecting with shared histories, and seeing how cultural knowledge could be meaningfully shared with visitors.

It also shaped how Jason sees his role today. He describes himself as an educator, focused on helping guests leave places with deeper understanding, curiosity, and respect.

Building Inuit leadership within expedition cruising

Today, Jason is closely involved with the Nalunaiqsijiit Cruise Ship Initiative, an Inuit Cruise Training Programme, a multi-stage initiative designed by Inuit, for Inuit. The programme supports increased Indigenous participation in expedition cruising by combining marine certifications with cultural interpretation, cross-cultural communication, and cultural safety training.

Participants complete classroom learning, technical certifications, and working placements on board expedition vessels. Graduates join ships as fully trained professionals, contributing lived knowledge, leadership, and perspective from their communities.

The programme addresses long-standing barriers to access, including the availability of training in remote communities and the responsibility carried by cultural educators on board.

The value of lived experience

Throughout the conversation, Jason returned to the importance of lived experience in expedition travel. Cultural understanding grows from daily life in a place, from knowing how people interact with land, wildlife, and one another over time.

For guests, this depth of knowledge brings meaning to the journey. For communities, it ensures stories are shared with care, context, and accuracy. It also strengthens pride among guides, who often rediscover their culture through the process of interpreting it for others.

Adventure Canada’s long-term approach

@Adventure Canada

Adventure Canada’s nearly 40-year history is built on continuity and trust. Many of the people shaping programmes today have been involved for decades, allowing relationships with communities to develop naturally and sustainably.

Local artists, cultural practitioners, and community members are integral to every voyage. Engagement begins during itinerary design and continues through delivery. Decisions are guided by respect, communication, and shared understanding, including adapting plans when community concerns arise.

This approach reflects a belief that meaningful relationships grow over time and require openness, listening, and accountability.

Learning through travel

Jason often sees moments of realisation among guests, particularly Canadians travelling in their own country for the first time. Many discover perspectives and realities that differ from what they previously learned, gaining a fuller understanding of Indigenous life and history.

These moments are powerful because they encourage curiosity and reflection. Travel creates space for learning that stays with people long after they return home.

Looking ahead

As expedition cruising evolves, ships continue to advance in comfort and capability. Jason hopes the industry continues to centre destinations, cultures, and education at the heart of the experience.

Travel, he believes, remains a powerful way to build understanding and care for places that matter. By connecting people emotionally to landscapes and communities, expedition travel can foster long-term advocacy and awareness.

That belief underpins Jason’s work and the conversations shaping the future of responsible expedition cruising.

The full recording on the interview will be made available on our YouTube Channel.