Immediate Release
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 – (North Cowichan, British Columbia)

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) is proud to announce that the new boathouse at the Canadian Rowing Team’s National Training Centre (NTC) will be named The Lindsay Boathouse, recognizing a transformational $1,000,000 gift from Don Lindsay and the Lindsay Family Foundation.  This gift has helped elevate the vision for the facility and strengthen the future of Canadian rowing.

The boathouse is a cornerstone of RCA’s National Training Centre project, which is designed to provide Canada’s high performance athletes with a world-class environment to train, prepare, and pursue excellence on the international stage.  The Centre will also serve as a home base for RCA to host training and selection camps for development athletes.  Lindsay’s contribution has helped take the project to a new level, making possible enhancements and features that will benefit generations of athletes to come.

RCA Board Member and Chair of the NTC Project Committee, Mike Bryden, said Lindsay’s contribution has been instrumental in turning the vision for the NTC into reality.

“Don Lindsay’s generosity is an extraordinary investment in the future of Canadian rowing,” said Bryden. “His support has helped us realize the vision for the National Training Centre and create a facility that can elevate Canadian athletes for years to come. Don understands firsthand the impact that rowing can have on a person’s life, and his decision to give back in this way is a powerful example of the difference one individual can make to a team. We are incredibly grateful for his vision, his belief in our athletes, and the legacy and future he is helping build.”

The NTC project is now in the construction phase.  While construction continues, several elements of the future NTC are already operational, including a temporary training space, change rooms with showers and bathrooms, accessible parking, and completed docks.

For Lindsay, the decision to support the project is deeply personal.  A former national team rower, he credits sport, and rowing in particular, with shaping the person he became.  He went on to a distinguished career, particularly in banking, insurance and mining, including 18 years as President and CEO of Teck Resources.  He is currently Chair of Manulife Financial Corporation as well as Chair of Trans Mountain Corporation.

Throughout his career, however, Lindsay has remained closely connected to sport as an athlete, coach, executive, sponsor, volunteer, and philanthropist.  He and the company he led have supported Canadian athletes and organizations across rowing, skiing, soccer, triathlon, track and field and the Canadian Olympic Committee.  His commitment has always been driven by a desire to help athletes focus on performance rather than financial barriers.

“I’m a big believer that sport teaches important values and skills that help you succeed long term in life,” said Lindsay.  “The degree of dedication, hard work, persistence, discipline and respect that athletes learn through sport are so important in every other aspect of life. Whether it’s business, teaching, music, healthcare or anything else, those lessons stay with you forever.”

Reflecting on his own experience as a national team athlete in 1980, Lindsay remembers a time when athletes were often responsible for funding significant portions of their own training and competition expenses.

“I think investing in sport to provide facilities that help athletes take their minds off other distractions and just focus on the task at hand, training to the best of their abilities and being as competitive as they can be, is incredibly important,” he said.

Beyond functionality, Lindsay believes elite training environments help create a culture of excellence.

“To the extent that you create a nicer boathouse, you create an atmosphere of quality where people are proud to be there.  Over time, the boathouse will acquire photos of previous champions and various trophies and become part of the history of the sport.  Ideally, we’re creating a permanent national team training centre where athletes, when they arrive, know there’s a bit of magic there.”

That sense of history and possibility is something Lindsay knows firsthand. One of his most vivid rowing memories dates back to a national high school championship race (now called CSSRAs) that changed the trajectory of his life.  Entered in a crew that few expected to succeed, Lindsay and his teammates stunned competitors and their own teammates by winning gold in a photo finish.

Looking back, he sees that moment as a lesson that continues to guide him today.

“That changed my whole life because you learn that you can do it.  If you work hard enough, you too can succeed at anything.  That’s what rowing teaches.”

(Image from front page of the St. Catharine’s Standard in June of 1975. Don Lindsay pictured second from the left in stroke seat of the boat.)

While the boathouse will carry his family name, Lindsay is quick to redirect attention to the athletes who will use it.

“Walking into the National Training Centre that is called the Lindsay Boathouse, the name is a little bit secondary,” he said. “Rowing was a big factor in whatever success I had, and I want to support the institutions and activities that helped me along the way.”

Looking 10, 20 and even 30 years into the future, he envisions a National Training Centre that becomes synonymous with excellence in Canadian rowing.

“Hopefully the National Training Centre itself becomes a destination, gains a reputation, develops memories on the walls, and athletes want to push that extra bit harder to make it there.  When you arrive, it means you’ve arrived.  It’s part of the reward for years of hard work.”

He also sees the NTC as something that will continue to evolve over time.  As fundraising has progressed, additional features and improvements, including enhanced athlete amenities and gathering spaces, have become possible.  Lindsay believes that the philosophy of continuous improvement mirrors the mindset required to succeed at the highest levels of sport.

“Continual improvement is part of how you win.  We need to think of it as the kind of facility that isn’t just built once and stays static. It’s going to grow.”

The naming of the Lindsay Boathouse also reflects another goal: inspiring others to support Canadian athletes.

Lindsay recalls a lesson from early in his business career when the Chairman of the bank where he worked chastised him for making his United Way donations anonymously.  The message was simple: visible generosity can encourage others to do the same.  If everyone gave anonymously many actually wouldn’t give at all and there would be a lot less funding available for charities and community investment.

Lindsay said. “Things worked out pretty well for me, and so it’s time to give back, to say thank you. If that gets other people to say, ‘Maybe I should support as well,’ then that’s great. That’s what we want to happen.”

For the athletes who will use the boathouse and call the NTC home, support from donors like the Lindsay and the Foundation provides more than just a facility. It serves as a daily reminder that an entire community is invested in their success.

“We are lucky to have a community surrounding us that makes projects like this possible,” said Canadian National Team athlete Katie Clark. “I’m excited to train out of the boathouse, and every day will be a reminder of the support we have backing us. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to the Lindsay Family Foundation and everyone that has made donations to make our new boathouse at the NTC possible.”

As the National Training Centre project moves closer to completion, the Lindsay boathouse will stand as both a practical investment in athlete success and a powerful symbol of what is possible when members of the rowing community give back.

For Canada’s current and future rowers, it will be a place to train, dream, and pursue podium performances.  For Lindsay, it is an opportunity to help create the same life-changing experiences that rowing once gave him.

And for the broader community, it serves as an invitation to support sport, invest in people, and help build the next chapter of Canadian rowing success.

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Media Contacts: 

Colleen Coderre, Communications Lead 
Rowing Canada Aviron 
T: 613-530-6217 
E: coderre@rowingcanada.org 

Susanne Wereley, Communications Manager
Rowing Canada Aviron
T: 604-358-9089
E: s.wereley@rowingcanada.org

About Rowing Canada Aviron

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) is a non-profit organization recognized by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of rowing in Canada. RCA represents registered members of all levels and ages across Canada, whether they row for recreation, health and fitness or competition.