Made in Canada: How Rick Hunter turned a love of skiing into an Ottawa-based global waterslide empire

CTV’s Tyler Fleming has more on how an Ottawa-based company turned into a global waterslide empire.

As Canada Day approaches, Rick Hunter isn’t just celebrating a long weekend, he’s celebrating a legacy that stretches from high school in Ottawa to some of the world’s most iconic water parks.

“I grew up in the west end of the city, I went to Nepean High School,” said Hunter, now president and CEO of ProSlide Technology Inc. “I was a hockey player and a gymnast. But I bumped into a ski coach at Carlington Park, that chance meeting changed everything.”

It did more than launch a ski racing career that landed him on Canada’s national team. It planted the seed for an idea that would grow into a Canadian-made juggernaut, reshaping the water ride industry and leaving an unmistakable mark on global amusement parks while keeping its headquarters firmly rooted in Ottawa.

“You can be the best,” said Hunter. “And we can do it from our roots.”

Founded in 1986, ProSlide Technology has become a global leader in water ride design, engineering and manufacturing. The company’s slides are featured at Disney parks, Six Flags, SeaWorld and 22 Great Wolf Lodge resorts in the U.S.

ProSlide has pioneered innovations like the HydroMagnetic water coasters, Mammoth River rides and RocketBLAST propulsion systems, all designed with the thrill of ski racing in mind.

“It’s all about the line-in ski racing,” said Hunter. “And it’s all about the line on the water slides. You need to have entertainment, you need to have enough speed, but it’s amazing the sequence of parts, the gradient of the slides. There was something about skiing that was involved in all of the water ride design and development.”

ProSlide is more than high-speed thrills, it’s also a testament to Canadian resilience and ingenuity.

Despite building rides across Asia, Europe, and North America, Hunter says he’s never seriously considered relocating the company’s base of operations. The company employs hundreds and maintains its manufacturing in Ontario and Quebec, relying on locally sourced, high-quality fiberglass.

“People come from all over the world and they cannot believe the quality of the Canadian fiberglass,” he said. “We’ve maintained our Canadian roots. The trickle effect of designing, engineering and manufacturing these rides in Canada is massive and we’re very, very proud of that.”

That pride extends to Mont Cascades, a ski area and waterpark north of Ottawa that Hunter acquired early in ProSlide’s journey. It became the company’s real-world testing ground, where first-of-its-kind rides like the Mammoth River, headfirst mat racers and the first tornado funnels were prototyped.

“Be global, think local,” said Hunter. “We built the first fiberglass multi-lane racer at Mont Cascades, and it went viral. We sold it to Disney, to Six Flags. This is where the technology begins.”

ProSlide is planning a major expansion at Mont Cascades in the coming years, transforming the facility into a showcase of Canadian innovation and giving the capital region a world-class waterpark it can call its own.

“People in Ottawa deserve something great,” said Hunter. “We’re all over the world but we’re going to take that Canadian technology and put it into play right here.”

That competitive spirit, the kind built on years of international ski racing, remains a driving force in the company’s DNA.

“It was the competitive nature of actually learning how to ski faster, and not being afraid,” Hunter said. “Loving to be a Canadian competing in the world. That’s what drives us. That’s how we innovate.”

ProSlide has earned more than 100 international awards, including 17 ‘Best New Water Ride’ honours from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) in the past 21 years. Hunter himself was inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame, recognizing his outsized contribution to the global waterpark industry.

But for all the accolades, the numbers, and the engineering milestones, what matters most to Hunter is staying true to where it all began.

“My dad was in the government for 32 years, a real career Canadian,” he said. “My mother was a staunch Canadian. She loved this country and we’ve carried that forward. People know we’re Canadian and they like that, they trust that.”

Hunter calls ProSlide ‘the technology of fun,’ but he’s adds that the company’s culture is built just as much on passion and teamwork as on technical innovation.

“It’s like hockey, or skiing, or any team sport, you have to be competitive, but it has to be fun,” he says. “I think that’s why we have such great retention, people want to be here.”

Now closing in on 40 years in business, Hunter shows no sign of slowing down.

“This company will be here for decades and decades and decades,” he says. “And we’ll just keep going. Gold medal for Canada that’s the deal.”

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