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Castle Mountain in Banff National Park, Alberta. (CP PHOTO/Jim Fox)
INDEPTH: PARKS
Parks Canada
CBC News Online | August 11, 2004

Not just a network of campgrounds

It started in Banff, Alta., in 1885. A 26-square-kilometre chunk of land was set aside, destined to become the country's first national park. Two years later, the Rocky Mountains Park Act officially set aside the Banff Hot Springs Reserve as a "public park and pleasure ground for the benefit, advantage and enjoyment of the people of Canada" and another 379 square kilometres was added to the park.


Gros Morne National Park
Photo: Peter McCluskey
Today, there are 42 national parks across the country. The smallest – St. Lawrence Islands National Park in Ontario – occupies just 8.7 square kilometres. The largest – Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta and the Northwest Territories – takes in 44,807 square kilometres.

Together, all the parks cover almost 250,000 square kilometres, about 2.5 per cent of the total area of Canada.

Yes, you can pitch a tent, park your motor home or roll out your sleeping bag and sleep under the stars on one of the thousands of campsites maintained by the agency.

You can also climb mountains, hike or bike trails and paddle a canoe.

But there's more.

Parks Canada also plays a major role in preserving and maintaining 150 national historic sites, 29 national marine conservation areas, 30 heritage rivers, 1,300 heritage buildings and 165 historic railway stations. The agency also tends to several canals and gravesites of Canadian prime ministers.

According to the Parks Canada charter, the more than 4,800 people who work for the agency are:
  • Guardians of the national parks, the national historic sites and the national marine conservation areas of Canada.
  • Guides to visitors from around the world, opening doors to places of discovery and learning, reflection and recreation.

Gros Morne National Park
Photo: Peter McCluskey
Among the jobs they fill are interpreters, historians, scientists, archaeologists, tradespeople, conservators, wardens, planners, architects, engineers and the general labourers who make sure buildings are painted, fences are in good repair and grounds are maintained.

Parks Canada employees will take your camping reservations and conduct those "interpretive" nature walks that young camping parents like their children to enjoy. They'll also help fill out the paperwork that lets you dock your boat along the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site. While they're at it, they can also issue that permit that will allow you to discharge fireworks in a canal at the site, if you hand over $53.50, tax included.

They also run the audio-visual presentation – A Celebration of Imagination - the Life of Lucy Maude Montgomery – at the Green Gables Heritage Site in Prince Edward Island.

And look for the Parks Canada folks at the HMCS Haida site at Pier 9 in Hamilton Harbour, Ont. They used to be in Toronto, but the ship was moved across Lake Ontario on Aug. 30, 2003 – the 60th anniversary of the commissioning of this Tribal Class Destroyer.

And Parks Canada employees run the Living History program at the Fort St. James National Historic Site 164 kilometres northwest of Prince George, B.C.

Since 1976, Parks Canada has been the lead agency for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in Canada. The UNESCO initiative established the World Heritage List as a means of recognizing that some places, either natural or cultural, are so important, they should be the responsibility of the international community as a whole.

Currently, 13 Canadian sites are on the world list:
  • Kluane/Wrangell - St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek (Yukon and B.C.)
  • SGaang Gwaii (Anthony Island, B.C.)
  • Nahanni National Park Reserve (N.W.T.)
  • L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (Newfoundland and Labrador)
  • Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (Alberta)
  • Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta)
  • Wood Buffalo National Park (Alberta and N.W.T.)
  • Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks (Alberta and B.C.)
  • Historic District of Québec (Quebec)
  • Gros Morne National Park (Newfoundland and Labrador)
  • Old Town Lunenburg (Nova Scotia)
  • Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (Alberta)
  • Miguasha Park (Quebec)


Complete list of Canada's national parks
Park Date Est. Size (sq. km)
Banff National Park, Alberta 1885 6 641.0
Yoho National Park, British Columbia 1886 1 313.1
Glacier National Park, British Columbia 1886 1 349.3
Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta 1895 505.0
Jasper National Park, Alberta 1907 10 878.0
Elk Island National Park, Alberta 1913 194.0
Mount Revelstoke National Park, British Columbia 1914 259.7
St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Ontario 1914 8.7
Point Pelee National Park, Ontario 1918 15.5
Kootenay National Park, British Columbia 1920 1 406.4
Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Northwest Territories 1922 44 807.0
Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan 1927 3 874.3
Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba 1929 2 973.1
Georgian Bay Islands National Park, Ontario 1929 25.6
Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia 1936 948.0
Prince Edward Island National Park, Prince Edward Island 1937 21.5
Fundy National Park, New Brunswick 1948 205.9
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador 1957 399.9
Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia 1968 403.7
Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick 1969 239.2
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, British Columbia 1970 499.6
Forillon National Park, Quebec 1970 240.4
La Mauricie National Park, Quebec1970 543.9
Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon Territory 1972 22 015.0
Nahanni National Park Reserve, Northwest Territories 1972 4 765.6
Auyuittuq National Park Reserve, Nunavut 1972 21 471.1
Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador 1973 1 942.5
Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario 1978 1 877.8
Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan 1981 906.5
Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Quebec 1984 150.7
Ivvavik National Park, Yukon Territory 1984 10 168.4
Quttinirpaaq National Park, Nunavut 1986 39 500.0
Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario 1987 154.0
Fathom Five National Marine Park, Ontario 1987 112.0
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, British Columbia 1988 1 495.0
Gwaii Haanas National Marine Park Reserve, British Columbia 1988 3 050.0
Aulavik National Park, Northwest Territories 1992 12 200.0
Vuntut National Park, Yukon Territory 1995 4 345.0
Wapusk National Park, Manitoba 1996 11 475.0
Tuktut Nogait National Park, Northwest Territories 1996 16 340.0
Saguenay - St. Lawrence Marine Park, Quebec 1998 1 138.0
Sirmilik National Park, Nunavut 1999 22 200.0
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, British Columbia 2003 33.0

Source: Parks Canada



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