Voyageur and trusty canine paddle across the country to raise awareness for PTSD

A modern-day voyageur and explorer — and his faithful companion, Spitzii the dog — are crossing Canada in a canoe.

Mike Ranta, who is from Ontario, is on his third coast-to-coast voyage with his trusty companion, but this trip is special — it's both celebrating Canada 150, and raising awareness and money for post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Last year, Ranta paddled for 200 days from Vancouver to Cape Breton in honour of veterans. He said along the way, he learned about the impacts of PTSD on veterans and first responders.

"I really wanted to pay homage to those people. It's a real true Canadian in my eyes that runs into a place where most people would run away from in order to help somebody," he said, speaking to CBC News from his boat about 10 kilometres away from Fort Alexander, Man., which is approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Ranta said the most Canadian way he could think of to honour those people was to hop back in his canoe with Spitzii, a nine-year-old Finnish spitz.

"He's the greatest dog in Canada, quite possibly the world. He is an amazing pup, he's my best friend, my chief navigator and my bear scarer," Ranta said with a laugh.

While the original intent was to once again make it to Cape Breton, Ranta said the wind has set the travelling duo about 1,000 kilometres back on their plan.

"The weather has been really unpredictable for us. We've had some very close calls with a tornado, once with a water spout," he said.

So they will now see how far they can get in 214 days, planning to finish their journey at the end of October.

Ranta said they have seen Canada showcase its nature and beauty, but what he has really appreciated are the people he meets along the way.

"You can just imagine what the voyageur went through, coming around some of these points and bays and seeing a firelight in the distance of a bay and knowing that there is help and good people there," he said.

"Talking with people is definitely the highlight of this trip, talking with the kids and inspiring others to get in the canoe and enjoy that nature that we have as a nation," he added.