About Boating Industry Canada

Boating Industry Canada

Overview

Boating Industry Canada is the trade publication of Canada's recreational boating industry, serving the manufacturers, dealers, marina operators, distributors and service businesses that build, sell and maintain the country's pleasure boats. It is published by Kerrwil Media Limited (formerly Kerrwil Publications Limited), the Midland, Ontario-based family publishing company founded in 1964, and works alongside Kerrwil's consumer marine titles, which include Canadian Boating magazine. Its own description of its role is straightforward: it is "the primary source for current boating industry news, marine products, boat reviews and events in Canada."

Where Kerrwil's consumer magazines address boat owners, Boating Industry Canada addresses the trade itself. Its coverage is built for the people who run the industry — the dealer principals deciding what to stock, the marina owners weighing expansion, the manufacturers launching new models and the technicians and aftermarket suppliers who keep the fleet running. In its current form the title is digital-first: its website at boatingindustry.ca is updated daily with industry news, and its weekly email digest, the Boating Industry Canada News Week, is published every Tuesday for subscribers across the sector.

History

Boating Industry Canada began as a start-up concept backed by the Ontario government. In November 2003 it was one of three magazine concepts selected for the Ontario Media Development Corporation's Volume One program, each receiving $75,000 in development funding; the judges described the proposed Kerrwil trade title for boating industry owners and operators, with a planned circulation of about 3,500, as having a clear path to its readers and a strong editorial direction. The magazine launched in 2004, and its print run through the following years is documented in the digital editions archived on its website — the June 2011 issue, for example, was Volume 8, Number 3, consistent with a 2004 start.

The title's long-time editorial leader was managing editor Andy Adams, who the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) Canada credited with playing a significant part in the launch of Boating Industry Canada and with bringing it to the forefront of the industry through his IMPACT feature stories. In January 2024, during the Toronto International Boat Show, NMMA Canada inducted Adams into its Hall of Fame — the association's highest honour, established in 1988 to recognise lasting contributions to the marine industry — citing his work delivering national industry news and advocating for the recreational boating community.

The publisher behind the magazine has a longer history of its own. Kerrwil was founded in May 1964 by J.W. Kerr and describes itself as the oldest privately held publishing company in Canada — the company's own characterisation, presented as such. Run for decades by the Kerr family, with John Kerr as publisher of Boating Industry Canada in its print era and Elizabeth Kerr serving as president, the company built a portfolio concentrated in the marine sector. The family's standing in Canadian business publishing extends beyond its own titles: John Kerr twice chaired the Canadian Business Press association, as his late father Jack Kerr had done before him. In October 2023 Kerrwil announced a broad rebranding under which its flagship consumer magazine Canadian Yachting became Canadian Boating, while Boating Industry Canada retained its name as the group's trade title.

Content and Coverage

The magazine's coverage follows the working agenda of the Canadian marine trade. News reporting covers manufacturer announcements, new model launches, dealer and marina business developments, boat shows and industry associations, with the website carrying fresh stories daily — product introductions and industry items dated 13 October 2026, for example, were among its recent posts at the time of this profile. Standing coverage areas include electronics, propulsion, products and innovation, manufacturing and fabrication, business management and marketing, the departments around which its print editions were organised.

Feature journalism has been a distinguishing part of the title. Adams's IMPACT stories profiled the people and companies shaping the industry, and the magazine has run practical service journalism for the trade, from ethanol fuel questions to boat shop technique. In 2022 it introduced the Marine Graduate Series, a monthly feature profiling graduates of Canada's small number of marine service technician programs, intended to raise the profile of marine education and of careers in the industry. The site also maintains a career opportunities section, carried at the foot of the weekly digest, where industry employers can post openings without charge.

Audience and Reach

Boating Industry Canada is addressed to a defined professional readership: boat dealers and brokers, marina and yacht club operators, boat and engine manufacturers, distributors, chandleries and marine service and repair businesses across Canada. Its original 2003 business plan projected a circulation of about 3,500 — a figure from its start-up phase that is cited here as history, not as a current measure. No current independently audited circulation or readership figure for the title is asserted in this profile.

The title's standing in the industry is evidenced in other ways: by its publisher's partnerships with the sector's institutions — Kerrwil publishes the Toronto and Vancouver boat show guides with Canadian Boat Shows, the Boating Ontario Directory with the Boating Ontario Association, and acts as sales partner for the Water Ways television program — and by the industry's recognition of its editor through the NMMA Canada Hall of Fame. Its free weekly News Week digest, to which the publisher invites "your whole team" to subscribe, is the main vehicle by which its journalism reaches trade readers between website visits.

Digital Presence

Boatingindustry.ca is the title's primary platform. It organises current news, featured articles and product coverage for daily reading, maintains an archive of the weekly News Week digests and of the magazine's earlier print-era digital editions, and offers free subscriptions to the digest and to Kerrwil's other digital boating platforms. The site was carrying industry news dated October 2026 at the time of this profile, and Kerrwil promotes the title alongside its consumer platforms — Canadian Boating, CB Onboard, PORTS and Sailing in Canada — giving trade advertisers a combined path to both the industry and its customers. Social and email channels support the same mix, with the Tuesday digest serving as the regular appointment product for subscribers.

Ownership and Organisation

Boating Industry Canada is published by Kerrwil Media Limited of Midland, Ontario, a consumer and business media company owned by the Kerr family since its founding by J.W. Kerr in May 1964. The company's marine publishing is conducted through its Canadian Yachting Media operation, under which Boating Industry Canada sits with Canadian Boating, CB Onboard, PORTS, Sailing in Canada and the Boating Industry Canada calendar. Jill Snider has served as a vice-president of the company with responsibility for its show-guide, association and television partnerships. One geographic note: this directory's inventory record lists the magazine under Toronto, where Kerrwil's mastheads in the print era also carried a Toronto office address (800-2 St. Clair Avenue East), but the company's home base and the address on the magazine's own masthead is Midland, Ontario — 538 Elizabeth Street — as stated openly here.

Contact and Availability

Boating Industry Canada is published by Kerrwil Media Limited, 538 Elizabeth Street, Midland, Ontario L4R 2A3, telephone 705-527-7666. Its editor, Andy Adams, has invited reader comment in his published editorials at aadams@kerrwil.com, and subscription to the weekly Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest — published every Tuesday — is free through the subscribe page at boatingindustry.ca. Current news, the digest archive and the magazine's back-issue digital editions are all available on the website.