To reaffirm for young Canadians the spirit of teamwork, unity and multiculturalism that first built Canada, by demonstrating the vital roles of Canada's Native peoples, the European explorers and entrepreneurs, and the French Canadian voyageurs, without whose help Mackenzie's original expeditions would not have been possible.
In total, the four expedition teams visited nearly 140 communities, spoke to more than 50,000 school children and paddled and portaged more than 12,000 kilometres, and in doing so, the Expeditions provided the important public relations support for the proclamation of what is now the Alexander Mackenzie Voyageur Route .