Parks Canada braces for $450 million in cuts and lapsed funding

Budget documents show Parks Canada is bracing for $450 million in cuts and lapsed funding over the next two years — reductions that it says “could put the department “at risk of not being able to deliver the services that matter most to Canadians.” 

According to department plans, more than 800 full time positions are slated to be eliminated.

Details about the cuts are sparse, but a post on Parks Canada’s website indicates $23.6 million was cut last year. Another $26.8 million is expected this year, and a further $34.5 million expected in 2026. According to Parks Canada, cuts will come from “internal efficiencies,” changes to heritage site management and both standardizing and digitizing visitor services.

According to Megan Hope, a Parks Canada public relations officer, total planned spending cuts are just north of $85 million.

To date, Hope explained, most cuts have come from a “reduction of discretionary activities in operating budgets.” A post on Parks Canada’s website explains that cuts are expected to come from “internal efficiencies,” changes to heritage site management and both standardizing and digitizing visitor services. 

The cuts listed on Parks Canada’s website also leave more than $300 million unaccounted for. According to department plans, the difference will come from expiring spending programs like the Enhanced Nature Legacy Fund. 

Created in 2021, this $2.5 billion fund was tied to the government’s promise to protect 30 per cent of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030. The Parks Canada funding supports the goal of establishing new national parks and marine protected areas; it’s tied to a five-year commitment that runs out at the end of 2026. 

“I am worried that cuts to Parks Canada would make it harder than it already is to live up to the 30-by-30 promise,” said Joe Foy, protected areas campaigner with the Wilderness Committee. “Failure to do so is going to result in the loss of some beautiful places, and also will accelerate the extinction crisis.” 

According to Parks Canada, staffing cuts are also tied to the sunsetting of programs like the Enhanced Nature Legacy Fund.

“The decrease in staffing levels represented in the departmental plan is part of responsible planning to account for initiatives with decreasing and time-limited funding,” Hope said. 

These cuts come as more and more people are visiting national parks in Canada. More than 23 million people went to Parks Canada sites in 2023/24, including a record 4.28 million visitors to Banff National Park. This combination of rising use and falling funding worries Foy.

“[We] know what it feels like when parks are underfunded…what it feels like to try to book a family campsite and discover the system has crashed,” he said. 

Parks and programs in jeopardy

In 2024, Parks Canada established Pituamkek National Park Reserve in PEI. Three additional new parks are also under active consideration – one in the Yukon’s Peel River watershed, one on Manitoba’s Seal River and one in the South Okanagan region of B.C. This third park, which would protect endangered grassland ecosystems near the town of Osoyoos, is something that Foy and the Wilderness Committee have been pushing for nearly two decades. 

“[British Columbia] is really dragging its heels on getting the South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve to the finish line,” said Foy. “Cutting Parks Canada staffing and funding will not help matters.” 

Parks Canada also adopted an Indigenous Stewardship Policy in 2024. Meant to align operations with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it gives broad direction to Parks Canada staff to pursue a policy of co-stewardship. Exactly what that looks like can differ from place to place, but the goals are to bring Indigenous peoples and knowledge into park management decisions in pursuit of reconciliation and shared park governance. 

Some of that work has been funneled through the Indigenous Guardians program, which funds Indigenous land and water stewardship projects. But, that funding — $58 million via Parks Canada — comes from the expiring Enhanced Nature Legacy Fund. 

“We've heard no confirmation that any funding for Indigenous Guardians' programs will be renewed before it runs out,” said Sandra Schwartz, National Executive Director at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS).

In their work supporting Indigenous-led conservation efforts, CPAWS has seen Guardians programs create jobs that allow young people to remain in their communities. Schwartz worries that these programs could disappear.  

“Without this funding, it's likely that many Guardians programs will no longer be viable,” she said. “This concerns me very much, especially at a time when Canada is under threat.” 

Parks Canada did not respond to questions from Canada’s National Observer about this funding.

These cuts also come as Parks Canada is dealing with growing risks related to climate change and climate impacts. Multiple internal Parks Canada documents list climate change as a key risk to the agency, both in the form of slow moving changes like erosion and glacier melt, and from extreme weather and natural disasters. 

Last month, the federal government announced $133.1 million in Parks Canada funding to support “costs incurred in response to the 2024 wildfire season,” which included the massive fire that ravaged Jasper National Park last year. 

“Damage to infrastructure will demand a redesign of many park features — including campgrounds, bridges, access roads, trails,” explained Foy. “We can try to fix things to withstand the next calamity or we can continue to repair and replace in a similar manner to what was there before. No matter what we do, this will be very expensive and on-going.” 

The last time Parks Canada faced major cuts was in 2012, when Stephen Harper cut $29.2 million from the department budget. Those cuts, spread over three years, are about one third of the current planned spending reductions, not counting the more than $300 million in expiring funds. The Harper cuts led to more than 600 job losses and widespread service cuts at parks across the country. 

When asked whether these new budget cuts would affect Parks Canada operations this summer Hope responded that operational decisions were happening at a park-to-park level.

“Each location administers its operations according to local circumstances,” she explained. “[A park] may adjust its activities and associated investment to strategically align with field unit priorities, including long-term sustainability, providing the most efficient use of taxpayers’ money, and ensuring a safe, high-quality visitor experience.”