UNITY — Students of Unity Composite High School were the latest audience in the west central region to have Prince Albert’s Cody Demerais speak, with support from the UCHS Alumni Volleyball, SGI, and Aviso Insurance and Wealth. Demerais, who visited UCHS on April 1, had also made stops at Macklin School and Luseland District School in early February.
A destructive past
Demerais, a proud Métis man, grew up in Prince Albert, being raised by his single mother. At the age of 11, his mother lost her job, and young Demerais began working to pay for things he wished he could have. It was during this time that he also struggled with his identity, sense of belonging and direction in life.
It was not long after he began working that he experimented with substances like alcohol and marijuana. During his story at the schools, Demerais admitted he has an addictive personality, which led to his substance dependency on top of battling with his mental health. As he got older, his lifestyle became out of control to the point where a woman he worked with told him two things would happen in his life if he did not turn things around:
- “You will go to jail if you don’t figure things out.”
- “Your life will end before you truly begin to start living.”
In the week leading up to the start of his Grade 12 year, Demerais and his friend were out partying consistently. One night, the pair wanted to continue with their fun, turning down their designated driver for a safe ride home. An intoxicated Demerais got behind the wheel of his car, with his friend in the passenger seat, and drove off to the next party destination. While talking and laughing, Demerais remembers looking at his friend, followed by the jarring movement of the vehicle hitting a median. The vehicle then crashed head-on into a tree. Demerais told the students he blacked out for a moment before waking up, frantically trying to wake his buddy. He remembers seeing the smashed windshield and his friend slumped in his seat, with no seat belt on.
“I blacked out a second time. I remember waking up in the ambulance, wanting to know what happened to my friend before passing out again. I woke up in the hospital, with my mom by my side, who told me my friend was being sent to Saskatoon as his condition was much worse than mine,” Demerais told the students. A few days after being released from the hospital, Demerais overheard that his friend’s condition had worsened and there was a chance he would not survive the night.
“My heart sank in my chest. My stomach felt turned inside out. I denied that this was even a possibility. If Regan wasn’t going to be in this world, then it wasn’t fair that I continue to live,” wrote Demerais in his book, Take Your Life Back. Demerais tried to take his own life that same night, but was unsuccessful.
Shortly after graduating high school, Demerais was charged with drinking and driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and drinking and driving. He was sentenced to six months at the Prince Albert Men’s Correctional Facility, where he was approved to work at the Besnard Correctional Work Camp and a short-term job in the kitchen. He was also accepted into a three-week treatment centre for those who were charged with drinking and driving.
Living up to a Limitless purpose
In his early 20s, the young man was tired of the misery and depression, trying to find his way in life. Working as an educational assistant for at-risk youth, Demerais began reading self-help books and remembered an art project from his time in grade school: come up with your own label.
The idea bounced around in his mind for months. Until one day it clicked after watching his favourite movie, Limitless; the concept of becoming truly limitless pulled on his heartstrings, and that’s what he set out for. He saved up over a couple of his pay cheques to buy his first box of T-shirts and began selling them out of the trunk of his car, spreading the message of being “Limitless”. Three years later, Demerais’ brand, Limitless Gear Clothing, opened a storefront on Nov. 29, 2019.
In 2021, Demerais and his brand were nominated and won the 2021 ABEX Young Entrepreneur of the Year award with the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
In 2023, the storefront closed, moving to an online platform. Shortly after the closure, Demerais was approached by Lake Country Co-op, which wanted to carry the Limitless Gear Clothing in its locations.
Taking his message on the road
After years of personal development, healing and disciplined growth, Demerais took his experiences and turned them into a message of hope, responsibility and leadership. There was a point in his life where he dreamed of travelling the country, sharing his life story and helping others with their own personal growth, healing and personal transformations. That dream became a reality for the young man.
On top of his roles as a husband and a father, Demerais added motivational speaker, workshop facilitator, life coach and author to his resume. He became a Jay Shetty Certified Life Coach in 2024, and had his book, Take Your Life Back, published. The memoir was an Amazon number one bestseller in three categories, selling over 5,000 copies in its first year. It was also a finalist in the Saskatchewan Book Awards in 2025.
As his presentation at all the schools came to an end, Demerais left one message for students and staff.
“Once you believe you have the ability and capacity to do great things, that is when life becomes limitless.”
