Churchill Wild owners Mike and Jeanne Reimer honoured with TIAC Lifetime Achievement Award

Video: TIAC Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Mike and Jeanne Reimer speaking at the Canadian Tourism Awards. Introduction by Churchill Wild VP of Business Development Jackie Storry.

by George Williams

Churchill Wild co-founders and owners Mike and Jeanne Reimer were honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Canadian Tourism Awards on December 5, 2024, at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre in BC.

Presented by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), the Canadian Tourism Awards recognize the best and brightest in Canada’s tourism industry. From outstanding teams and organizations to individual luminaries who surpass all expectations, exemplifying a commitment to provide nothing short of exceptional tourism experiences from coast to coast to coast.

Travel Manitoba President and CEO Colin Ferguson (left), with Churchill Wild co-founders Mike and Jeanne Reimer at the TIAC Canadian Tourism Awards.

The Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Destination Toronto, recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution of energy, service, and talent towards the growth of the Canadian tourism industry, through volunteer work, service or business accomplishments. Focusing on tourism building, the recipients demonstrate leadership, vision and innovation built on a solid foundation of strong values and sound business strategies.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the single highest and most revered honour an individual in the travel and tourism industry can receive.

Sometimes, dreams really do come true

TIAC Lifetime Achievement Award winners Mike and Jeanne Reimer.

In 1993, on the remote shores of Hudson Bay, Mike and Jeanne Reimer bought an abandoned whale research station just north of the Seal River. Backed by Jeanne’s parents, Doug and Helen Webber, their dream was to develop an ecotourism business starring polar bears and beluga whales, with a supporting cast of wolves, caribou, moose, wolverine, Arctic hare and fox, myriad birds and the beautiful flora of the subarctic.

They welcomed one paying guest in 1994.

In the vastness of Canada’s northern frontier, where the edge of civilization dissolves into wilderness, their vision seemed almost impossible. The abandoned research station stood as a testament to human ambition humbled by nature – windows shattered, doors torn away, bird nests claiming light fixtures, and bear tracks marking their territory. Yet where others saw desolation, the Reimers saw possibility.

Churchill Wild ecolodges. Then (bottom) and now. L to R: Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, Seal River Heritage Lodge, Dymond Lake Ecolodge.

Their journey to this moment was deeply rooted in Churchill’s tourism heritage. Mike, with his farm-bred resilience and Arctic passion, had apprenticed with Bonnie and Al Chartier’s Churchill Wilderness Encounter, pioneers of the original polar bear tours in Churchill. Jeanne carried in her blood the legacy of northern hospitality – daughter of Doug and Helen Webber, who had built Dymond Lake Ecolodge and established Manitoba’s first 5-Star fishing lodge at North Knife Lake.

When their paths crossed, with Mike guiding and Jeanne managing everything from guest services to aircraft fueling, it wasn’t just two people meeting; it was two destinies aligning. Mike and Jeanne Reimer married in 1988.

Early days at Seal River Heritage Lodge. Mike and Jeanne Reimer and kids.

The first season at Seal River Heritage Lodge brought Gobi Oberhauzer, their sole guest from Switzerland, who experienced their improvised luxury: touring the coast in a lawn chair ingeniously lashed to a trailer. It was humble, yet it contained the seeds of everything Churchill Wild would become – innovation born of necessity, comfort carved from wilderness, and most importantly, intimate encounters with the Arctic’s most magnificent creatures.

In those early years, the Reimers lived their dream in the most literal sense, their young family squeezed into what Jeanne calls “basically a closet,” their children playing within the compound’s safe confines, always under the curious gaze of passing wildlife. They learned the delicate dance of coexistence with the Arctic’s apex predators, developing protocols that would eventually revolutionize wildlife tourism.

Lounge at the new Blueberry Inn in Churchill, Manitoba.

From these modest beginnings grew a remarkable legacy of innovation. Mike pioneered the world’s first polar bear walking safaris, while Jeanne transformed remote wilderness dining into a 5-star culinary experience based on the best-selling Blueberries & Polar Bears cookbook series developed by her mother Helen Webber and Helen’s close friend Marie Woolsey.

Their expansion to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge in 2009 opened new territories for Arctic wildlife encounters, and they would go on to develop eleven distinct polar bear and wolf safaris, including the groundbreaking Cloud Wolves of the Kaska Coast adventure, which captured the imagination of wolf enthusiasts worldwide. In 2024 they completed building their newest property, the Blueberry Inn in Churchill, which created a seamless guest experience.

Wolf messages. Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. (Fabienne Jansen / ArcticWild.net)

Mike and Jeanne’s influence rippled far beyond their lodges. Through collaboration with Travel Manitoba, they helped shape how the world sees Canada’s north. Their expertise informed federal policy on polar bear interaction, while practical innovations, such as their three-guide system for ground-level polar bear viewing, and respect for wildlife at the lodges, inspired a new generation of responsible tourism advocates. They pioneered solar power systems that slashed diesel consumption by 75%, implemented grey-water recycling, and followed strict reuse and recycle policies. The also fostered relationships with First Nations communities that went beyond employment to true cultural exchange.

The results of Mike and Jeanne’s vision now stand as three world-class ecolodges, which have set the Gold Standard for polar bear tourism worldwide, where over 8,000 guests have experienced the heart-stopping moment of meeting a polar bear on foot. Churchill Wild has received numerous national and international tourism awards, and their lodges have earned over 500 5-Star reviews on Tripadvisor. Their properties earned coveted memberships in National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World collection, while their guides have gone on to become recognized as the best in the business worldwide.

Berry picking during the early days at Seal River Heritage Lodge. Mike and Jeanne Reimer with son Adam and polar bear.

“Churchill Wild has given us the opportunity to live, work and raise our kids in one of the best places on the planet,” Jeanne reflected, her voice carrying the weight of decades spent turning dreams into reality. “It is never just a job. The fact that we’ve been able to be part of a successful business while living this type of lifestyle has been wonderful.”

As Mike and Jeanne gradually step back from the daily operations of Churchill Wild, they leave behind more than just a successful business. Perhaps their greatest achievement lies in proving that wilderness tourism can thrive while protecting the very environment that makes it possible. They’ve shown that with careful planning, hard work, and an unwavering love of nature, you can turn an impossible dream into a model for sustainable tourism that will inspire generations to come.

TIAC Lifetime Achievement Award Trophy. Allison Francoeur photo.

Now, as the Tourism Industry Association of Canada recognizes their lifetime of achievement, the Reimers’ legacy stands as a testament to what patience, vision, and respect for the land and its wild creatures can accomplish.

Mike and Jeanne Reimer pioneered the world’s true first polar bear walking safaris from remote ecolodges on Canada’s Hudson Bay coast, but they didn’t just build their dream. They created portals to a world where humans and nature could meet on equal terms, where luxury meant not gilt and marble, but the privilege of walking with polar bears, under an endless Arctic sky.