For generations, the Canadian outdoors has been romanticized as a landscape of freedom: a place where anyone can find themselves among mountains, forests, snowfields, and open water. But for many BIPOC Canadians, newcomers, and immigrants, the outdoors has often felt like a space they were permitted to admire, not one they were truly invited into. 

The barriers were never just gear or geography; they also included representation, cultural familiarity, cost, and safety. It has been the assumption, reinforced through decades of marketing and media, that the “outdoor lifestyle” belongs to a narrow version of who a Canadian is allowed to be.

Colour the Trails was born from this tension and need.

In founder and CEO Judith (Judy) Kasiama’s words, it began with frustration and a clear observation.

“Colour the Trails actually came out of my own frustration of seeing not enough representation in media,” she says.

Living as a Black woman in Vancouver, she could see diversity on local trails in real life, yet not in the brand imagery shaping the story of who belongs outside. 

“Before 2020, there wasn’t that visual representation of diverse people doing that. And that sadly continued the narrative that folks of colour are not engaging with the outdoors, when in reality we are. We’re just not being broadcast.”

What began as one woman searching for belonging in spaces where she rarely saw herself reflected has grown into a national Black woman-owned business focused on improving access to outdoor activities for BIPoC and 2SLGBTQIA+BIPoC adventurers. Colour the Trails (CTT) delivers barrier-breaking programming while also creating media that showcases BIPOC outdoor stories because representation matters. The organization’s work is rooted in joy, equity, inclusion, and community, with a long-term view of change that extends beyond any single event or campaign.

This is not simply about inviting people into existing outdoor culture. It is about changing the culture itself.

For many newcomers to Canada, outdoor culture comes with unspoken expectations. You should already know how to ski, hike, or paddle. You should already own the gear. You should already feel comfortable navigating land you have never stepped foot on. 

Colour the Trails dismantles these assumptions by creating entry points where people can begin without judgement. The organization’s programming spans land, water, snow, and learning, including hiking and camping, kayaking and paddleboarding, downhill skiing and snowboarding, and a range of outdoor certifications and skills-building pathways. Across chapters, the invitation is consistent: start where you are, ask questions, and learn in community. 

CTT is clear about the layered nature of access barriers. “We recognise that access to the outdoors has historically been limited for BIPoC and those at the intersection of BIPoC and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities due to knowledge, financial and cultural barriers,” the organization states. 

Kasiama adds another dimension that is often left out of mainstream conversations about access. The deeper barrier, she says, is safety, both physical and psychological. “A lot of people are interested to engage with the outdoors, but the safety element is, am I going to be safe? Not just physical safety, but psychological safety as well.” That fear is not abstract. It can show up as microaggressions, stereotyping, or the pressure to shrink oneself simply to move through a space without friction. 

This is where the CTT model matters. Events are designed to help people meet future adventure partners, not just complete a single outing. “When you do something as a group, you introduce something to people for the first time, they create community among themselves,” Kasiama explains. “Now that’s their hiking partner. They’re relying on each other because they know their psychological safety and physical safety is taken care of, because now they have somebody they can trust.” 

Over 2022 and 2023, Colour the Trails expanded its reach, welcoming hundreds of new participants into its community. That growth has not been limited to one region or activity. With chapters spanning Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, and Ontario, CTT has built a national presence while staying grounded in local relationships and place-based programming. 

The result is an outdoor experience that feels less like an audition and more like a homecoming. People come alone and leave connected. As Kasiama describes it, “This space is created with you in mind.” 

Colour the Trails grounds its work in the understanding that all outdoor recreation in Canada takes place on Indigenous land. Belonging, in this context, is not about entitlement or ownership. It is about responsibility, learning, and relationships. 

In practice, this begins with land acknowledgement, but it does not end there. Leaders tie acknowledgements to lived experience, helping participants connect the idea of displacement and cultural loss across different histories and geographies. Kasiama, who identifies as a refugee, speaks about the ongoing conflict and extraction of natural resources in the Congo and how those realities have shaped her own displacement. That experience helps her hold deeper empathy for the impacts of land dispossession and colonial extraction in Canada. 

“We really try to tell our community it’s important to learn and engage, and to uplift other Indigenous-led organizations that are doing the work,” she says. That includes amplifying Indigenous stories, collaborating where appropriate, and creating opportunities to learn directly from Indigenous educators, knowledge-keepers, and elders. It also includes practical stewardship teachings that shape how people move through outdoor spaces, from conservation workshops to responsible recreation practices. 

The annual report reflects this philosophy of relationship and reconciliation as part of outdoor access. Reclaiming the outdoors, the organization states, requires walking a path of reconciliation while creating job opportunities for BIPoC and LGBTQIA+BIPoC and ensuring psychological and physical safety for community members. 

For Colour the Trails, belonging is inseparable from awareness. It asks participants to move beyond being present for the view, and toward being present for the place. 

The outdoor industry has long struggled with representation in leadership. Colour the Trails shifts that reality structurally, not symbolically. 

Kasiama is direct about why this matters in how the organization operates. “I really only experience the world as a Black woman,” she says. “My Blackness and my womanness allows me to hold empathy for the intersectionality of other races and identity. So for me, if I’m advocating, I’m advocating for everyone.” 

This leadership approach influences everything: how safety is prioritized, how programs are designed, and how leadership opportunities are shared. Kasiama emphasizes that CTT is not built around ego or a single personality. “It’s about, how do I use this opportunity to build leadership among other women and women of colour?” 

The organization’s team structure reflects that commitment. CTT’s core team includes chapter coordinators and leadership across multiple cities, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, and Ontario. This distributed leadership helps ensure programming remains responsive to local communities, while staying aligned with a national mission. 

It also creates pathways for participants to become leaders. Kasiama shares examples of community members who joined as mentees or participants and later stepped into leadership roles, building confidence, planning capacity, and autonomy through CTT’s trust-based model. “Everybody has always had that potential, Colour the Trails gives people the opportunity to unlock those leadership skills,” she says. 

Colour the Trails operates not as a hierarchy, but as a circle. Community members are participants, collaborators, mentors, and leaders. Experiences are co-created, and relationships extend beyond individual events. 

The annual report describes this as sustainable community building that fosters leadership while addressing community needs. CTT emphasizes that liberation work means building a network that manages human, natural, and financial capital to meet current needs while ensuring resources for future generations. 

Participant voices bring this to life. One testimonial reflects, “I can’t describe what it’s like to be surrounded by the CTT community. We all have different backgrounds and different stories, but I have never felt more at home than with this community… For a few days, I get to imagine what a better world could look like, where belonging has true meaning.” 

Another participant, reflecting on an ice climbing experience, describes starting with low confidence and gradually finding courage through group support. The point is not the summit. The point is the shared encouragement and the refusal to leave anyone behind. 

It is a culture that redefines who gets to be “athletic” and what counts as achievement. Kasiama recalls a letter from a mentee who described how CTT opens doors for those who are not “deemed athletic.” CTT’s message back is expansive: moving your body is participation. Pushing your bike uphill is still belonging. You do not need to earn your place through performance. 

Colour the Trails’ growth is measurable, and its impact is tangible. 

In a single year, the organization delivered close to 75 events across five chapters, responding to community demand for new programming and safer learning environments. Partnerships have enabled scholarships and financial support so economic barriers do not prevent participation, while still allowing the organization’s work and growth to remain sustainable. 

Key partnership highlights include: 

• Arc’teryx, which screened CTT’s short film I Am Because You Are as part of a national tour, with proceeds from Vancouver and Toronto reinvested back into Colour the Trails. Over 800 attendees were introduced to CTT’s work through those screenings, alongside community hosting and representation across chapters. 
  
• On Running, now in its third year of partnership, supporting a 12-week Trail Running Mentorship Program that combines six coach-led group runs with six online learning sessions. Since 2021, this mentorship has supported 55+ mentees. 
  
• Vail Resorts, through the Epic Promise Program & Never Ever Days, supported initiatives such as “Black Joy on the Slopes,” which welcomed 53 Black, mixed Black, and Afro-Indigenous participants for a day of connection and celebration at Whistler Blackcomb. 
  
• Mountain biking mentorship, now in its fourth year, is supported through partnerships that include clinics, subsidized rentals, maintenance workshops, a rent-to-own pathway, and trail days that give back to local trail associations. The program has supported 55+ BIPOC mentees and continues to expand, including partnerships aimed at supporting first bike purchases and exploring future growth into gravel biking. 
   

Colour the Trails describes an intentional shift away from traditional sponsorship toward a “Community Investors” model, focusing on long-term shared objectives rather than short-term exposure. The premise is clear: as demographics of outdoor enthusiasts shift, partners have an opportunity to invest in a more inclusive future, while directly supporting community well-being, leadership, and access. 

Kasiama’s approach to partnerships is rooted in relationship, realism, and accountability. “My activism is rooted in grace,” she says. “Behind a brand, there are humans.” She prioritizes honest feedback loops and long-term collaboration over perfection. “Now that I know better, I do better,” she adds, quoting Maya Angelou. The goal is not to demand that brands solve every systemic issue, but to find partners willing to work alongside the community and help build safer, more welcoming outdoor spaces. 

Colour the Trails is not simply changing who participates in outdoor recreation. It is changing who leads, who teaches, who is seen, and who gets to thrive. 

Kasiama imagines a future where representation is not only in photos, but also behind the lens and in positions of authority: guides, instructors, photographers, filmmakers, and outdoor professionals across disciplines. Ideally, she hopes, Colour the Trails becomes less necessary as confidence and belonging become normalized. “In ten years, I hope Colour the Trails doesn’t really exist, because people feel the confidence to actively participate in the outdoors, and our services are not really needed.” 

For now, the need remains, and so does the work. 

When someone is arriving at their first Colour the Trails experience, Kasiama hopes the takeaway is both tender and powerful: “I hope they feel welcome and belonging, even if they try something and they didn’t like it, I hope they take away that I can go and try something entirely new, and it’s okay to feel scared, but I did it.” 

In that moment, stereotypes begin to dissolve, including the ones people have internalized about themselves. “It’s not ‘I don’t do this because of my race,’” she says. “It’s ‘I tried it.’ Maybe I loved it. Maybe I don’t like cold. But I’m allowed to find out.” 

That is the new outdoor consciousness. It is rooted in equity and guided by Indigenous stewardship. It is sustained through entrepreneurship and strengthened through partnership. Most of all, it is powered by communities who have always belonged, even when the story of the outdoors told them otherwise.