Introduction

Introduction

OUR NATIONAL PARKS

National parks protect natural environments representative of Canada's natural heritage. These special places are gateways to nature, to adventure, to discovery, to solitude. They celebrate the beauty and infinite variety of our country. Protected and preserved for all Canadians and for the world, each is a sanctuary in which nature is allowed to evolve in its own way, as it has done since the dawn of time. Each provides a haven, not only for plants and animals, but also for the human spirit. A place to wander... to wonder... to discover yourself.

Canada's first national park was created over 100 years ago at Banff. Our goal is to establish a system of national parks that represents each of Canada's distinct natural regions. This system is just over 60% completed.

The purpose of this report is to familiarize the reader with the 39 terrestrial national park natural regions of Canada (Map 1), to identify regions presently represented by national parks, and to introduce those regions not yet represented by national parks. The overall status of completion of the national parks system is shown on Map 2. More detail is provided in the descriptions of the natural regions.

Pacific Rim National Park © Parks Canada

IT STARTED AT BANFF...

Banff National Park 1887 © Parks Canada

National parks are part of a grand vision to preserve examples of the diversity of our land and of the life that is an integral part of it. They are strictly protected areas where commercial resource extraction and sport hunting are not permitted. But these are not merely nature sanctuaries preserved and locked away; they are places where people of all ages are invited to experience the outdoors and to learn about the natural environment.

The vision began, albeit a much different vision then, in 1885 when the federal government reserved "from sale or settlement or squatting" 26 square kilometres around the hot mineral springs near what is now the town of Banff, Alberta. Two workers constructing the transcontinental railway in this area had discovered the hot springs flowing from a mountainside near the railway station. Various conflicting claims were brought to the attention of the Government of Canada. Rather than grant the privilege of developing the hot springs to private individuals, the government of Sir John A MacDonald decided instead to retain the hot springs and surrounding lands as a national treasure. The Order-in Council, signed two weeks after the driving of the famous last spike that marked the completion of the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railway, signalled the birth of Banff National Park (then known as Rocky Mountains National Park) and what was to become a system of national parks across Canada.