Parks Canada

Parks Canada is committed to making its services and facilities accessible to all Canadians.

Providing equal opportunities to recreational and educational experiences in Canada’s national parks, national marine conservation areas, national historic sites and canals is an essential part of the Parks Canada mandate.

Parks Canada administers 36 national parks, three national marine conservation areas, 130 national historic sites and eight canals. It started to make its services and facilities accessible in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Following some departmental initiatives and a Treasury Board circular, the accessibility policy came into full force in 1990 with the objective of ensuring that persons with disabilities can gain access to, and use, federal real property.

That same year, Parks Canada established the Access Program and realized that its success depended on close cooperation with agencies that represent persons who have disabilities. Many agencies such as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), the Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA) and the Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) have made a significant contribution to the program by giving advice and sharing their ideas on how to improve accessibility within Parks Canada.

In 1990, Parks Canada received funding from the Treasury Board to improve accessibility. With this money, a lot of hard work, commitment and cooperation, it has become a national and international leader in the field of accessibility.

Many improvements were made over the past five years. Each park, site and canal now offers representative experiences to all visitors.

Improvements include TTYs in each park, site and canal, FM broadcasting systems and captioned videos for visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing; improved access to print information; better lighting and colour contrast; and use of tactile models and exhibits for visitors with visual disabilities. In addition, physical access has been expanded to all basic levels of services and facilities.

Parks Canada has also made the commitment to ensure that staff training programs provide employees with a good understanding and appreciation of the needs of persons with disabilities.

Visitors who have disabilities can now enjoy experiences that at one time were out of reach. They can enjoy a full park or site experience such as exploring a trail, visiting a historic building and participating in an interpretive program. A variety of alternative experiences such as photo albums, video presentations and tactile products are also available.

Everyone benefits from the changes that have been made in the name of access; and as time goes on, the system will continue to improve.