Separate initiatives are moving preparedness from discussion to practice
Preparedness begins with information, but it cannot end there.
Articles, videos and online discussions can introduce useful ideas. They can help people recognize risks, compare equipment and identify skills worth developing. Eventually, however, that knowledge must be put into practice.
A water filter still needs to be tested. A tent must be pitched in difficult weather. Radio operators need other stations to contact. First-aid skills require regular practice. Equipment that has never left its packaging offers little assurance that it will work when circumstances become difficult.
Across Canada, more people are creating opportunities to move preparedness beyond discussion. Some are organizing large gatherings. Others are offering focused training, building communications networks or creating new ways for experienced people to share their knowledge.
These initiatives are not parts of one organization. They have different organizers, purposes and methods. Together, however, they demonstrate a growing interest in practical, hands-on preparedness.
Free Canadian Grid-Down Starter Kit
Hands-on preparedness begins with understanding what your household already has—and what may still be missing.
The free Canadian Grid-Down Starter Kit provides a practical starting point for reviewing food, water, lighting, communications and household organization before the next prolonged outage.
Preppers Meet: Bringing Prepared Canadians Together
Preppers Meet has concluded for 2026, but the connections made during the event did not disappear when the campsites were packed away.
Held at Primrose Park Campground in Mono, Ontario, Preppers Meet brought together instructors, presenters, vendors and attendees interested in practical preparedness and self-reliance.
The scheduled presentations were only part of its value.
Participants could speak directly with knowledgeable people, examine equipment, compare different approaches and meet others working through similar preparedness challenges. Conversations continued around campsites and throughout the grounds after the formal programming ended.
That informal contact matters.
Someone may arrive intending to learn about one particular subject and leave having discovered another instructor, an upcoming course or several people interested in organizing something locally. A short conversation can become the beginning of a training group, future event or working relationship.
Preppers Meet provides the physical gathering place where those introductions can happen. It does not need to own every activity that eventually develops from them.
The value lies in bringing people out from behind their screens and giving them an opportunity to meet, demonstrate, ask questions and participate.
The 2026 event is finished, but the practical learning and networking it encouraged continue.
Great Ape Empire: A Weekend of Practical Training
Another hands-on opportunity is being organized independently at the Great Ape Empire property at 267 Highway 6 in Wiarton, Ontario, from September 10 through September 14.
The weekend brings several courses and supervised activities together at one location. Great Ape Empire is providing the property, while individual instructors are contributing their own qualifications and areas of expertise.
Participants registered for the weekend’s activities may also arrange to camp on the property, turning several individual courses into a broader gathering.
This is a straightforward model for practical preparedness training. One person provides suitable land. Individual instructors provide specialized knowledge. Participants make the activities possible by registering, attending and applying what they learn.
Canadian Firearms Safety Course
The weekend begins on Friday, September 11 with a Canadian Firearms Safety Course conducted by Eugene Underhill, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran.
The adult course is scheduled to run from 7:45 a.m. until approximately 5:00 p.m., including testing. The announced cost is $180 per student, with space limited to ten participants.
Formal instruction provides adults with the required foundation in Canadian firearms law, responsible ownership and safe handling before applying for a Possession and Acquisition Licence.
Interested adults should confirm eligibility, identification requirements, available space and current course information directly with the instructor before making travel arrangements.
Plinkin’ in the Woods with Frugal Gunnie
Saturday, September 12 will feature Plinkin’ in the Woods with Frugal Gunnie.
This all-day adult program provides structured and supervised experience with .22-calibre sporting firearms in an outdoor environment. Responsible conduct and safe handling are central elements of the instruction.
Completing a formal safety course and developing practical competence are not the same thing. Someone may understand the rules in a classroom yet have limited experience applying them under supervision in an outdoor setting.
Practical instruction helps close that gap.
The announced cost is $250 per participant. Adults interested in attending should confirm licensing requirements, package inclusions, availability and registration details with the organizer.
Introduction to Archery with Wolf Starchild
Wolf Starchild will conduct a six-hour Introduction to Archery Clinic at the Great Ape Empire archery range on the same Saturday.
The clinic will provide supervised, hands-on exposure to several styles of bows and arrows while introducing participants to the foundations of archery.
Its inclusion gives the weekend another practical dimension.
Preparedness covers a wide range of interests and abilities. Some people concentrate on communications or food production, while others develop skills in first aid, bushcraft, homesteading, shooting sports or traditional archery.
A useful training weekend does not require everyone to pursue the same subjects. It allows participants to explore different skills and decide which ones deserve further development.
Complete pricing and registration information for the archery clinic will be announced separately.
Ontario Hunter Education Course
Eugene Underhill returns on Sunday, September 13 to conduct an Ontario Hunter Education Course.
The course is scheduled to run from 7:45 a.m. until approximately 3:00 p.m. The announced cost is $180 per student, with limited space available.
Hunter education addresses the legal responsibilities, wildlife knowledge, ethics and safe practices associated with hunting.
It also replaces romantic ideas about simply entering the woods and finding food with a more realistic understanding of the preparation and judgement required.
Hunting may contribute to a prepared household, but it is not an effortless replacement for stored food or established food-production systems. Education and practical experience help people understand both its potential and its limitations.
Interested adults should confirm the current course requirements and registration details directly with the instructor.
Primitive Camping
Registered participants may arrange to camp at the Great Ape Empire property from Thursday, September 10 until Monday, September 14.
The announced camping fee is $20 per registered person and helps cover the cost of portable toilets. Space is available for tents and trailers, but campers should expect primitive conditions rather than the services of a developed campground.
That simplicity can become part of the experience.
Participants must plan for their own food, potable water, shelter, lighting, charging and protection from changing weather. Equipment can be tested in realistic conditions while stores, fuel stations and other services remain available if something important has been forgotten.
Camping also allows people attending different courses to meet and continue conversations beyond the scheduled programming. Those informal discussions may prove as useful as the courses themselves.
Anyone intending to camp should make arrangements with Great Ape Empire beforehand and confirm exactly which facilities will be available.
Prepared Canadian: Practising Emergency Communications
Prepared Canadian represents a different form of hands-on preparedness.
The project is being developed as a private communications group for Canadian preppers using amateur radio and JS8Call. Its immediate purpose is to help qualified operators establish regional contacts, participate in scheduled practices and build dependable digital HF stations.
Owning a radio does not create an emergency communications network.
Operators must install and test their stations, understand the software, establish reliable contacts and practise exchanging messages before conventional communications become unavailable. Antennas and equipment that appear adequate on paper may reveal significant limitations once put on the air.
Regular practice allows those problems to be identified while there is still time to solve them.
Prepared Canadian provides participating operators with a place to compare station configurations, work through technical difficulties, coordinate practice sessions and become familiar with the people receiving their signals.
The project is initially focused on regional communications, where HF digital modes may help connect operators across the distances between neighbouring communities and regions. As participation develops, those regional contacts could eventually contribute to a wider Canadian network.
Its practical value will depend upon participation. A communications group requires more than names on a membership list. Operators must appear for scheduled practices, respond to other stations and become comfortable passing information accurately.
This is preparedness through repetition rather than assumption.
Putting the Networking Back into Canadian Preppers Network
Alongside these independent events, courses and communications projects, Canadian Preppers Network is beginning a separate initiative of its own: putting the networking back into Canadian Preppers Network.
CPN was never intended to be the voice of only one person. Canada has experienced preppers, tradespeople, homesteaders, radio operators, outdoorspeople and emergency volunteers with practical knowledge worth sharing.
We are inviting people with genuine, hands-on experience in any of CPN’s ten core preparedness subjects to contribute articles:
- Food
- Water
- Shelter and heat
- Security and defence
- Communications
- Medical and first aid
- Energy
- Homestead skills
- Wilderness skills
- Mental resilience and community
We are not looking for generic articles assembled from online research. We want contributions from adults who have grown, preserved or produced food; developed water systems; maintained shelter and heat; worked with communications or independent energy; provided first aid; practised homesteading or wilderness skills; addressed real security problems; or helped build capable communities.
Contributors do not need to be professional writers. Practical experience, sound information and the ability to explain what worked—and what did not—matter more than polished prose. CPN can help prepare worthwhile submissions for publication.
This author initiative is Canadian Preppers Network’s own effort to reconnect knowledgeable Canadians, introduce readers to people with proven experience and restore the exchange of practical knowledge that a genuine network should provide.
If you have real hands-on experience in one or more of these subjects and something useful to teach other prepared Canadians, we invite you to write for Canadian Preppers Network.
Apply to Write for CPN
Send a brief description of your practical experience and the subjects you would like to write about.
From Collecting Information to Building Capability
Preppers Meet, the Great Ape Empire training weekend, Prepared Canadian and CPN’s author initiative each take a different approach.
Preppers Meet creates a large annual gathering where prepared Canadians can learn, demonstrate equipment and build relationships. Great Ape Empire is hosting a focused weekend of courses and primitive camping. Prepared Canadian is developing a private environment in which amateur radio operators can practise emergency communications across distance. Canadian Preppers Network is inviting people with practical experience to share their knowledge with a wider audience.
Their organizers, responsibilities and objectives remain separate.
What connects them is a broader movement toward practical participation.
Preparedness can easily become centred on collecting. People accumulate food, tools, radios, medical supplies and camping equipment but postpone learning how to use them. The result may be an impressive inventory supported by very little proven capability.
Hands-on activity exposes the difference between possession and competence.
A weekend without electrical hookups reveals whether a charging plan is realistic. A supervised course replaces assumptions with proper instruction. A radio practice identifies antenna, software and operating problems. An in-person gathering introduces people who may later work together. An experienced contributor can help thousands of readers avoid mistakes by sharing lessons learned through actual practice.
These experiences do not guarantee readiness, but they provide something passive consumption cannot: evidence.
More Initiatives Are Being Developed
The current projects are not the end of this growing activity.
More collaborations, training opportunities and preparedness projects are already in the planning stages. They will be announced and rolled out as each becomes sufficiently complete and ready for participation.
Developing worthwhile opportunities takes time. Organizers must find appropriate locations, instructors and procedures before inviting people to become involved. Releasing each project when its important details are settled gives potential participants something concrete to evaluate and support.
Not every initiative needs to operate under one banner.
A property owner can host a weekend. An instructor can teach a specialized subject. A communications group can coordinate regular practice. An established event can bring people together. An experienced practitioner can share knowledge, while publishers help people discover the opportunities available to them.
Independent projects can still contribute to the same broader result: more prepared Canadians developing real skills, meeting capable people and testing their plans before an emergency.
Information remains important, but information must eventually lead to action.
That is the encouraging trend now becoming visible. Canadian preparedness is moving beyond reading, watching and buying. More people are creating opportunities to meet, train, communicate, contribute and practise.
That is how equipment becomes useful, knowledge becomes capability and isolated individuals begin building a genuine preparedness community.
Learn More and Get Involved
- Preppers Meet
- Plinkin’ in the Woods with Frugal Gunnie
- Prepared Canadian Amateur Radio Network
- Firearms Safety and Hunter Education Courses: ecn.underhill@gmail.com
- Contributing Author Applications: info@canadianpreppersnetwork.com
Course schedules, prices, registration requirements and availability should be confirmed directly with the appropriate organizer.
Important Event Information
Schedules, prices, eligibility requirements and availability may change. Adults considering any course or activity should confirm current registration details, requirements and camping arrangements directly with the appropriate organizer before travelling.