Hi Sarah,
I was reading your post and the answers you got... First of all, thanks for been great parents and helping your son achieve a passion.
On another hand, as diving instructor I am a little more cautious when it comes to the 10 years limitation to start a JOW. Well programs like seal team and bubble maker are great, and there is as well a possibility to enroll him (from the age of 8) into a skin diver course to enhance his in water confidence.
Now depending on a few factors you might would want to delay his JOW, let me clarify... In your family are you all of a small built, or is there a chance that your son might grow taller after the age of 10? When I was a kid my built was quite small, and then suddenly between the age of 10 and 13 I took almost half meter! What I am saying is that maybe you should wait for a couple of years for him to grow taller and stronger, as science has not completely defined how pressure affects the growth of a kid!
Reading your posts, I had a funny feeling. You've mentioned that with the dive center there will be a lot of pool session and so forth... I was wondering about it, since a OW course is 5 confined water session and 5 open water dive (including the skin dive), too many pool session and OW sessions are not necessarily beneficial for the kid's motivation and might be contrary to the Padi standards. I would want to take a good look at their JOW program! Just saying, one can never be safe enough!
In regards of the equipment, if you think that his body will still growth I would recommend to rent it from the dive center, and buy it a few year down the line. However I would still recommend to buy a few pieces of equipment, such as mask, snorkel, open heel fins... Anyway, if the dive center is a good one and are used to deal with kids, they should be hiring out some material, even smaller tanks should be available (easier to don by a smaller child)!
In regards of exposure suit, well pretty much the same. I believe that in Canada water is pretty much cold, so for the summer 5 mm. wet suit or a semi dry (with the hood) one could be a solution. A dry suit can cost an arm and a leg, do not chose a tight fit (crush / neoprene or / foam) as the kid will still be growing, but rather a urethane coated fabric type one, at least you won't need to buy another dry suit for a few years... You need to bear in mind that due to buoyancy factor, the kid will need more weight to go down. Additionally he will have to be strong enough to handle buoyancy issues and body positioning underwater, especially if wearing a weight belt rather then a BCD with integrated weight system. Well the above are also some reasons I would recommend to think thoroughly and carefully when you want him to start with his JOW. Remember it is not about what Padi standards says, but about having a kid comfortable in the water and enjoying!
Otherwise, if he really wants to start his JOW, then you might consider doing the OW theory and confined water sessions in Canada and then ask to the dive center to give him a referral and do the open water dive in a different marine environment during your next holidays, you just need another recognized dive center working with the same certifying agency! Why not do the open water session in Florida or anywhere else with Tropical water conditions. At least there he could dive with a shorty, which will for sure make his OW dives easier to deal with, and to build up his confidence he can also do his AJOW (Advanced Junior Open Water, well they call it now Adventure in Diving)! Once certified and back to Canada and confident enough, then he can go with the initial dive center, do some more dives through a discover local diving program, which will teach him diving in a different environment with a different type of exposure suit, as well as differences in buoyancy...
Anyway nothing is written in blood, with the actual scuba diving teaching systems, there are ample ways to get him to dive confidently and still enjoy at the same time, and if you feel he is still too young for the JOW, get him to start with a Scuba Diver course first, he makes a few dives at limited depth and build up his strengths and confidence. And next holidays get him to take the next step...
Last but not least, reading your post I remembered a same case where a mother, father and their kid learn diving together. Well you would be surprised the mother buddy thing did not happened, in fact the mother was more terrified then the kid and the kid ended up been an amazing buddy caring about his mother and not the other way round!
Well not knowing you guys makes it difficult to give you an advice, anyway all this to tell you not to rush and do not let anyone influence your decision, not by the dive center, not by the instructor and not even from your son. Inform yourself think about the pros and the cons, assess him in the water, but don't be too overly motherly, if necessary take baby steps by adding the skin diver course after the seal team and bubble maker, maybe to start with the scuba diver rating and why not consider doing the course with him, or at least the open water sessions together, it could be an amazing experience...
Have an amazing experience and many happy dives
Max
