About the course
What this course covers.
When a worker is deep in the bush, far from help, being unprepared is the biggest danger they face. A bear encounter, a sudden storm, a cold night - any of these can turn serious fast. This course, built with input from outdoor survival experts, gives field and outdoor workers the knowledge to handle what the wilderness puts in front of them.
The course covers responding to encounters with cougars, moose, elk, wolves, and snakes, and dealing with bites and stings, then goes deep on bears: their behaviour and body language, working and travelling in bear country, storing food, avoiding encounters, and reacting to defensive and non-defensive attacks, including the use of bear spray and bear bangers. It also covers surviving the elements - emergency shelters, lightning, hypothermia, and frostbite - and the survival essentials of signalling for help and making water safe to drink.
Companies use Wilderness and Bear Awareness to train oil and gas, forestry, survey, and utility field crews, and anyone whose job takes them into the bush, and to give a documented training record.
Pass mark 80%
Score the pass mark to earn the certificate.
Course outline
5 modules, start to finish
Each module ends with a short knowledge check before you move on.
Wildlife encounters
Responding appropriately to cougars, moose, elk, wolves, and snakes, and minimising and treating bites and stings from ticks, mosquitoes, and bees.
Understanding bears
The physical differences, general characteristics, behaviour, body language, hibernation, and food sources of bears.
Working and travelling in bear country
Storing food, travelling and camping safely, avoiding bear encounters, and reacting to defensive and non-defensive attacks, including bear spray and bear bangers.
Surviving the elements
Building emergency shelters in summer and winter, reacting to lightning, staying safe around trees in high wind, and preventing hypothermia and frostbite.
Outdoor survival essentials
Signalling for help, making water safe to drink, and reducing exposure to Lyme disease.
Developed to meet Canadian and provincial standards
What every course includes
Printable and mailed certificates
Digital wallet and wall-sized certificates print the moment the course is passed.
Standards compliant
Built on Canadian federal and provincial legislation, safety standards, and industry best practice.
Self-paced
Unlimited access to the training material. Pause and resume the course any time.
Live student support
Real support is available seven days a week if a learner gets stuck.
Unlimited exam attempts
The exam can be retaken until the learner reaches a passing grade.
Record of training
Training records are stored securely for three years and pulled on demand from the account.
What learners say
Trusted by Canadian crews
Our survey and oil and gas crews are in the bush daily. The bear behaviour and bear spray sections are the parts that genuinely change how a new worker reacts.
Travis K.
Field Operations Lead
We made it required for anyone working remote. It is thorough - wildlife, weather, signalling - not just bears.
Dana M.
Safety Coordinator
Twenty years in the bush and the defensive-versus-non-defensive attack section still sharpened me up. Worth it.
Cliff R.
Forestry Worker
Who it is for
Built for the people running the work
- Oil and gas, forestry, survey, and utility field crews
- Workers in remote or wilderness locations
- Anyone working in bear country
- Outdoor workers far from immediate help
- Any company that needs a documented wilderness training record
What you walk away with
Able to do the job, not just describe it
- Respond appropriately to encounters with wildlife in the field
- Read bear behaviour and body language
- Travel and store food safely in bear country and use bear spray
- React correctly to a defensive or non-defensive bear attack
- Survive the elements and signal for help when help is not near
Pricing
One seat or the whole crew, priced fairly.
A single seat is $69.99 CAD. Buying one at a time, code ONTRACK10 takes 10 percent off at checkout. Training more than two or three people is cheaper through a free On-Track Safety corporate account, which also tracks every certificate and renewal date for you. Move the slider to see the difference.
- Free corporate account, no setup fee
- 20 percent off every course for the first three months
- Automatic certificate and expiry tracking for your whole team
Team pricing
What it costs to train your crew
Individual purchases
One seat at a time, list price
$349.95
Individually with code ONTRACK10
10% off, applied at checkout
$314.96
Through a free corporate account
20% off every course, first three months
$279.96
A corporate account saves you
$69.99
on 5 seats of Wilderness & Bear Awareness
No setup fee. The account also tracks every certificate and expiry date for you.
Certificate and format
How the course runs
Your certificate
Testing runs throughout the course and a mark of 80 percent earns the certificate; the course can be repeated twice if the pass mark is not met on the first attempt. On completion the worker downloads and prints a certificate of completion valid for three years from the completion date.
- Fully online and self-paced - about 150 minutes of content
- Includes interviews with outdoor survival experts
- Mobile-friendly - start on a laptop, finish on a phone
- Instant access as soon as the course is purchased
- Pass mark is 80 percent, with two retakes included
Why it matters for compliance
Occupational health and safety legislation requires that workers are trained for the hazards of the environment they work in. For a field or remote worker, wildlife and wilderness hazards are part of that hazard assessment, and this course provides the documented training record.
Common questions
Questions buyers ask
How much does the Wilderness and Bear Awareness course cost?
- The course is 69.99 CAD per seat. Use code ONTRACK10 at checkout for 10 percent off an individual purchase, or set up a free On-Track Safety corporate account for 20 percent off every course for the first three months when training a field crew.
How long does the course take?
- The course is about 150 minutes of content and is fully self-paced, so it can be completed in one sitting or across a couple of shorter sessions without losing your place.
Does the certificate expire?
- Yes. The certificate of completion is valid for three years from the completion date shown on it, after which the worker retakes the course to stay current.
Does this course cover bear spray?
- Yes. The course covers using and handling bear spray and bear bangers, alongside avoiding encounters and reacting to defensive and non-defensive bear attacks.
Who is this course for?
- It is built for field crews in oil and gas, forestry, survey, and utility work, and for anyone whose job takes them into wilderness or bear country where help is not close by.
Get your team trained, on the record.
Enrol one person now, or set up a free corporate account and train the whole crew at 20 percent off with every certificate tracked for you.