2012-2013 Parks Canada Agency Corporate Plan

Minister's Message

© Parks Canada

As Parks Canada's centennial celebrations draw to a close, we turn our attention towards setting the foundation for another century of success.

Since 2006, the Government of Canada has taken actions that will have added 148,754 square kilometres to Parks Canada's network of protected areas. As a result, we have increased the total land and water that comes under our stewardship by more than half. Just in the past year, we established Sable Island in Nova Scotia as a new national park reserve.

As we embark on the future, we will continue to work closely with our partners, including Aboriginal peoples, to create new parks in such awe-inspiring places as Nááts'ihch'oh in the Northwest Territories and the Mealy Mountains in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as a national marine conservation area in the Southern Strait of Georgia in British Columbia. We will continue working toward the creation of Canada's first national urban park in the Rouge Valley of Toronto.

Canada's history is rich and vibrant. We will continue to pay tribute to our country's heritage with new commemorations of notable people, places and events that shaped Canada, including the bicentennial of the War of 1812. There will be re-enactments, reflections, and teaching opportunities available at many of the national historic sites that are administered by Parks Canada.

One of our greatest challenges will be to find innovative ways to keep Canadians connected to their treasured places. In today's urban and technology-dependant society, we reach out to Canadians where they live, work and play, and connect them to the very essence of being Canadian. Earlier this year, the Minister's Round Table advised me on ways to reach out to a new generation and acquaint them at a deeply personal level with the natural and historic icons that have inspired and nurtured the Canadian psyche.

We also collaborate with international partners on the challenges we share in protecting cultural and natural heritage. As part of a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding with China, Parks Canada will exchange knowledge and expertise in the management of national parks, nature reserves and other protected areas.

A hundred years as the world's first national parks service has given us a great legacy. In the years ahead, we will lay a foundation so that, a century from now, Canadians will continue to take great pride in the natural and cultural heritage that has long defined what it means to be Canadian.

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