Following superkarts, Bourbonnais raced in the national Formula Ford 2000 series in Canada. In his debut season Bourbonnais best result was a second place at Circuit Trois-Rivières, behind Dutchman Cor Euser. The Canadian driver finished one point shy of the top ten in the drivers championship. In 1986 Bourbonnais improved one championship position after exchanging his Reynard 83SF for a more recent Swift DB3. The Quebecois driver also competed in the inaugural season of the Rothmans Porsche Challenge Series in 1986. His best result was a sixth place at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. After switching from the Swift DB3 into a Reynard 87SF, Bourbonnais started winning races in the 1987 Canadian Formula Ford 2000 series. The Canadian won at Mont-Tremblant improving to third in the championship standings. Retaining the 87SF for 1988 and 1989 Bourbonnais became a double champion. In 1988 Bourbonnais won six out of eight races. The following season Bourbonnais scored six race wins out of nine races. The Canadian defeated many up and coming talents such as Jimmy Vasser and Ken Murillo For 1988 the Canadian also appeared in the U.S. based, SCCA sanctioned, Formula Continental class. The Canadian qualified for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs winning the race. Bourbonnais was the first to do so in a Formula Ford 2000 chassis, as previous editions of the Formula Continental race were won by Formula Super Vee chassis. Bourbonnais won the race from pole position, also setting the fastest race lap. Curtis Farley finished second, more than nine seconds behind Bourbonnais.