Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada

Park Management

Cape Breton Highlands National Park Management Plan Tabled in Parliament

The Honourable Jim Prentice, Canada's Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, has tabled the management plan in Parliament for Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Parks Canada management plans provide clear direction for the management and operations of Canada’s special places for 10 to 15 years, with a review every five years. This document is Parks Canada’s key accountability document to Canadians providing long-term direction to protect heritage resources, facilitating opportunities for visitor experience, and providing public outreach education.

Key strategies include developing a variety of adventure choices that incorporates the national park, local communities and culture; managing the park’s cultural resources and the stories linked to those resources; and, promoting a natural range of plants and animals with an emphasis on Boreal forest re-establishment and habitat connectivity.

The Park will strengthen relationships with the Mi’kmaq to honour and commemorate the park’s history, particularly that of the former park residents and will also explore community interest in the creation of a local advisory committee in order to more fully engage area residents and stakeholders.

Parks Canada is Canada’s largest provider of natural and cultural tourism experiences and its iconic destinations form the cornerstones of the Canadian tourism industry. The northern area of Cape Breton is one of Atlantic Canada’s most significant tourism destinations, drawing visitors to the spectacular terrain. The Cabot Trail, which circles the northern peninsula, is a tourism icon for the province and Atlantic region. The vistas and viewpoints from the Cabot Trail have consistently been rated as among the best in North America by the tourism media.

Parks Canada protects and presents these treasures on behalf of Canadians because they are unique and authentic, and because of the story they tell, the experience they offer, and the contribution they make to help us understand the very essence of Canada.

In an effort to make this information available to you in a timely manner, this plan is currently only available in PDF format.  Should you require an alternate format or a hard copy, please contact us by e-mailing information@pc.gc.ca.

Management Plan  (PDF - 7.68MB)

Note: To read the PDF version you need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system.

If the Adobe download site is not accessible to you, you can download Acrobat Reader from an accessible page.

If you choose not to use Acrobat Reader you can have the PDF file converted to HTML or ASCII text by using one of the conversion services offered by Adobe.