Yachting and sailing clubs may provide their members with moorage for their boats, boat launch facilities, organize regattas, put on social functions, and/or provide training to children and/or adults.

There are ten Provincial Sailing Associations (PSA) that are responsible for organizing instructor courses, registering keelboats and providing PHRF rating certificates and sail numbers, and training provincial team athletes.

Sail Canada is responsible for coaching national team athletes, including Olympic sailors, designing sailing and power boating courses, and registering and insuring instructors.

Sailing on keelboats and yachts is taught as part of the "Cruising Scheme", which has four levels: Although one further level is specified by the Cruising Scheme, as of 2017 it is not offered by any Sail Canada school.

This is the Offshore Cruising level, which requires students to demonstrate the ability "to safely act as skipper and crew in a sailing cruiser on an offshore passage navigated by celestial and electronic means without visual reference to terrestrial objects".