The early Eocene (57.3–55.4 Ma) Bennett Lake and Mount Skukum Volcanic Complexes lie on the Coast Plutonic Complex and Intermontane Belt boundary of the Canadian Cordillera at the British Columbia – Yukon border, some 200 km east of the current and Eocene continental margin. Both complexes contain rock types from basaltic andesite to rhyolite in a series of lava and pyroclastic flows. The location relative to the continental margin, the rock types, and the presence of an enhanced LILE/HFSE (large-ion lithophile / high field strength element) signatures in all samples imply that contemporaneous subduction was the controlling factor in the formation of these complexes. The majority of samples, however, return unusually low compatible element concentrations for given rock types. We interpret this data to show that partial melting of the crust was the major source of erupted magmas. One formation of andesites at Mount Skukum and one late dyke at Bennett Lake do show higher concentrations of compatible trace elements, suggesting the presence of primitive magmas in the crust at the time of eruption, which contaminated and were erupted with the crustal melts. Sr–Nd isotopic data at both complexes are consistently primitive regardless of rock type and compatible element content, requiring a primitive crustal source for these magmas. We propose that the complexes were formed as a result of early Eocene subduction of the Kula Plate beneath the Canadian Cordillera. Intrusion of hot primitive melts caused partial melting of young crust to produce the majority of lavas observed. Contamination of these melts by primitive magmas is observed at both Mount Skukum and Bennett Lake.