The Canadian Beavers program was developed by three people: Harry McCartney, who was the Manitoba Executive Scout Director and the author of the short story Friends of the Forest; Alan Jones, who was a Winnipeg Scout Executive; and Gordon Hanna, who was part of the United Way Youth Council and was asked by McCartney to be the project's coordinator.

A one month grant from the United Way was provided to hire Gordon Hanna as the Project Coordinator to help develop and practically test the concepts.

Three colonies were initially started in 3 parts of Winnipeg to pilot the ideas: Elmwood, St. James and St. Vital.

[1] A diagram of the uniform, including placement of awards and crests, is provided on the Scouts Canada Website.

Adult and older leaders inside the colony are referred to as Scouters, and they may have given to them one of the nicknames from Friends of the Forest, such as Hawkeye, Tic Tac, or Echo.