Parks

Canada’s national, provincial and territorial parks are protected wilderness areas set aside by and for the people of Canada, forever. Parks are places we dream about – where we get inspired by nature’s beauty, spend time with family and friends, learn about nature, and enjoy healthy outdoor activities. They’re also places that plants and animals rely on for their very survival. They provide space for wildlife to roam, feed and raise their young away from the threat of human development.

Our parks provide many more extraordinary benefits to Canadians. They provide clean water to some of our largest cities. They moderate our climate by storing carbon in their soils and forests. They provide outdoor laboratories for scientific research, and classrooms for learning about nature. For a growing number of Indigenous people, parks offer a way to maintain and share their cultural traditions.

CPAWS is on guard for how Canada’s parks are managed, to make sure they continue to protect the nature that inspired their creation.

The threat

With only 10% of Canada’s landscape protected from industrial development pressures, more parks and protected areas are urgently needed to conserve Canada’s wildlife and ecosystems for future generations.

Our parks face many threats from inside and outside their boundaries that put their ecological integrity at risk, including:

• Federal budget cuts have gutted scientific research and monitoring programs essential to protecting our national parks, and many parks are being closed for much of the year. Provincial spending on parks continues to be well below what’s needed to ensure their long term protection and enjoyment.
• Inappropriate tourism and recreational development within our national parks threatens the well-being of ecosystems within their borders, while doing little to foster visitors’ appreciation for nature.
• Growing industrial development pressures within and adjacent to many of our most famous parks threaten their ecological integrity.
• Boundaries for new parks are too frequently designed to maximize industrial development in adjoining areas, rather than to ensure wildlife and ecosystems are well-protected.

Read more about the threats to Canada’s parks in CPAWS’ 2012 Parks Report

What CPAWS is doing

All across Canada, CPAWS is working with local communities, First Nations, other conservation organizations and businesses to encourage governments to complete networks of parks and other protected areas, and to make sure existing parks are well-resourced and protected for the future.

We’re working to:

• create new parks and protected areas;
• ensure that parks and protected areas, once established, are managed to protect their ecological integrity forever;
• ensure parks and protected areas are connected together so wildlife can move between them in response to changing climatic conditions; and
• ensure industrial activity is prohibited in all Canada's parks and protected areas.

Resources

CPAWS Annual Parks Reports:

Each July in the lead up to Canada`s Parks Day, CPAWS releases a review of the progress and challenges facing our parks:

2012 – Parks under threat
2010 – How is wildlife faring in Canada's parks?
2009 – The good, the bad and the ugly
2008 – Taking stock of Canada's progress on parks and protected areas

Articles:

Canadian Wilderness, Spring 2012: Parks under threat
Wild East (CPAWS NS), Born to be Wild: Celebrating our National Parks
Canadian Wilderness, Fall 2008, A new future for parks

Policy briefs and submissions:

Briefing Note on National Parks (prepared for Parliamentarians, November, 2012)
CPAWS recommendations for a National Conservation Plan for Canada

Re-investing in national parks:

CPAWS is a member of the Green Budget Coalition which brings together 16 national environmental and conservation organizations to make annual recommendations to "green" the federal budget.  For many years CPAWS has led in developing recommendations for federal funding for national parks and other federal protected areas. 

Read our full recommendations

Canada's Parks Day (third Saturday in July)
Join Canadians from sea to sea to sea to celebrate the importance of our parks and historic sites.
www.parksday.ca

Celebrate Parks Video Contest (2010)
With the support of Parks Canada, we ran this contest to introduce Canadians to their national parks.  See the submissions here:
www.celebrateparks.ca

Take Action!

Add your voice for protecting Thaidene Nene – the Land of the Ancestors!

Add your voice to support the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation’s vision of establishing Thaidene Nene as a permanent protected area that will conserve this spectacular wilderness area and ensure that Lutsel K’e Dene ways of knowing and doing will inform sustainable livelihoods for generations to come.

Read more | Take action

Keep the Flathead Wild

The Flathead Valley is one of the most biologically important places on earth. A key connection for animals moving north and south through the Rocky Mountains, it is a magical place of great wildness that has never been settled by humans. Help create a National Park in this special area.

Read more | Take action

Create a National Park in the South Okanagan-Similkameen

This badger and his desert friends need your help. Their habitat – a dry, warm landscape in southern B.C. – continues to disappear at an alarming rate due to human settlement. You can help create a National Park!

Read more | Write a letter

Sign the Peel statement of support

Help create the largest protected area in North America by signing on to this statement of support for the First Nations' goal of protecting the entire Peel River watershed.

Read more | Add your name at Protect Peel

Publications

The State of Canada’s Parks 2012 (2012)

Canada’s 21st annual Parks Day takes place on July 21, 2012.  The date is an opportunity for Canadians to celebrate our spectacular national, provincial and territorial parks, and to reflect on how well we are doing at protecting these natural treasures for the benefit of current and future generations.

Canadian Wilderness, Spring 2012 (2012)

Parks under threat

Comments on Mt. Norquay Ski Area Site Guidelines for Development and Use (2011)

CPAWS Southern Alberta outlines concerns about guidelines for Mount Norquay in Banff, which would adversely affect grizzlies.

2010 Parks Report (2010)

How is wildlife faring in Canada's parks?

2009 Parks Report (2009)

CPAWS' annual state of the parks report