Canada National Parks Act

This Act may be cited as the Canada National Parks Act.

The definitions in this subsection apply in this Act.

community plan means a land use plan for a park community. (plan communautaire)

ecological integrity means, with respect to a park, a condition that is determined to be characteristic of its natural region and likely to persist, including abiotic components and the composition and abundance of native species and biological communities, rates of change and supporting processes. (intégrité écologique)

enforcement officer means a person designated under section 19 or belonging to a class of persons so designated. (agent de l’autorité)

Minister means the Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency. (ministre)

park means a national park of Canada named and described in Schedule 1. (parc)

park community means any of the following communities:

the visitor centre of Field in Yoho National Park of Canada;

the town of Banff in Banff National Park of Canada;

the visitor centre of Lake Louise in Banff National Park of Canada;

the visitor centre of Waterton Lakes Park in Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada;

the town of Jasper in Jasper National Park of Canada;

the visitor centre of Waskesiu in Prince Albert National Park of Canada; or

the visitor centre of Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park of Canada. (collectivité)

park reserve means a national park reserve of Canada named and described in Schedule 2. (réserve)

park warden means a person designated under section 18. (garde de parc)

public lands means lands, including submerged lands, that belong to Her Majesty in right of Canada or that the Government of Canada has the power to dispose of, whether or not such disposal is subject to the terms of any agreement between the Government of Canada and the government of a province. (terres domaniales)

superintendent means an officer appointed under the Parks Canada Agency Act who holds the office of superintendent of a park or of a national historic site of Canada to which this Act applies, and includes any person appointed under that Act who is authorized by such an officer to act on the officer’s behalf. (directeur)

[Repealed, 2024, c. 30, s. 20]

This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

The national parks of Canada are hereby dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment, subject to this Act and the regulations, and the parks shall be maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

For greater certainty, nothing in this Act limits the authority of the Minister to fix fees under section 23 or 24 of the Parks Canada Agency Act.

Park reserves are established in accordance with this Act for the purpose referred to in subsection (1) where an area or a portion of an area proposed for a park is subject to a claim in respect of aboriginal rights that has been accepted for negotiation by the Government of Canada.

Subject to section 7, the Governor in Council may, by order, for the purpose of establishing or enlarging a park, amend Schedule 1 by adding the name and a description of the park, or by altering the description of the park, if the Governor in Council is satisfied that

Her Majesty in right of Canada has clear title to or an unencumbered right of ownership in the lands to be included in the park; and

the government of the province in which those lands are situated has agreed to their use for that purpose.

If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that Her Majesty in right of Canada does not have clear title to or an unencumbered right of ownership in lands within a park, the Governor in Council may, by order, amend Schedule 1 by removing the name and description of the park or by altering that description.

Except as provided by subsection (2), no amendment may be made by the Governor in Council to Schedule 1 for the purpose of removing any portion of a park.

Subject to section 7, the Governor in Council may, by order, for the purpose of establishing or enlarging a park reserve, amend Schedule 2 by adding the name and a description of the reserve, or by altering the description of the reserve, if the Governor in Council is satisfied that the government of the province in which the lands to be included in the reserve are situated has agreed to their use for that purpose.

Where a claim referred to in subsection 4(2) is settled, the Governor in Council may, by order,

amend Schedule 2 by removing the name and description of the park reserve or by altering that description; and

if the settlement provides that the park reserve or part of it is to become a park or part of one, amend Schedule 1 by adding the name and a description of the park or by altering the description of the park, if the Governor in Council is satisfied that Her Majesty in right of Canada has clear title to or an unencumbered right of ownership in the lands to be included in the park.

If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that Her Majesty in right of Canada does not have clear title to or an unencumbered right of ownership in lands within a park reserve, the Governor in Council may, by order, amend Schedule 2 by removing the name and description of the reserve or by altering that description.

Except as provided by subsections (2) and (3), no amendment may be made by the Governor in Council to Schedule 2 for the purpose of removing any portion of a park reserve.

Before an amendment is made to Schedule 1 or 2 for a purpose referred to in subsection 5(1) or 6(1), respectively, the proposed amendment shall be tabled in each House of Parliament, together with a report on the proposed park or park reserve that includes information on consultations undertaken and any agreements reached with respect to its establishment, and an amendment so tabled stands referred to the standing committee of each House that normally considers matters relating to parks or to any other committee that that House may designate for the purposes of this section.

The committee of each House may, within 30 sitting days after the amendment is tabled, report to the House that it disapproves the amendment, in which case a motion to concur in the report shall be put to the House in accordance with its procedures.

A proposed amendment to Schedule 1 or 2 may be made if 31 sitting days have elapsed after the tabling of the amendment in both Houses and no motion referred to in subsection (2) has been proposed in either House.

A proposed amendment to Schedule 1 or 2 may not be made if either House passes a motion referred to in subsection (2).

The Minister is responsible for the administration, management and control of parks, including the administration of public lands in parks and, for that purpose, the Minister may use and occupy those lands.

Maintenance or restoration of ecological integrity, through the protection of natural resources and natural processes, shall be the first priority of the Minister when considering all aspects of the management of parks.

Powers in relation to land use planning and development in park communities may not be exercised by a local government body, except as provided in the agreement referred to in section 35 and the Agreement for the Establishment of Local Government in the Town of Jasper between Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada and the Municipality of Jasper, signed by the Minister and the Chairperson of the Jasper Town Committee on June 13 and 25, 2001, respectively, as amended from time to time.

The Minister may enter into agreements with federal and provincial ministers and agencies, local and aboriginal governments, bodies established under land claims agreements and other persons and organizations for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

The Minister may enter into agreements

with any person for the development, operation and maintenance in a park of hydro-electric power pursuant to the Dominion Water Power Act for use in a park;

with a local or aboriginal government having jurisdiction on lands adjacent to a park for the supply of water from the park to any place on those adjacent lands; and

with any person located on lands in or adjacent to a park for the supply of water from the park to those lands for domestic purposes or for use in establishments providing services to park visitors.

An agreement entered into pursuant to paragraph (2)(b) must take into account any traditional supply of water from the park.

An agreement entered into by the Minister with a provincial minister or agency may authorize the use of public lands in a park, but the Minister may terminate the agreement if those lands cease to be used as authorized.

The Minister shall, within five years after a park is established, prepare a management plan for the park containing a long-term ecological vision for the park, a set of ecological integrity objectives and indicators and provisions for resource protection and restoration, zoning, visitor use, public awareness and performance evaluation, which shall be tabled in each House of Parliament.

The Minister shall review the management plan for each park at least every 10 years and shall cause any amendments to the plan to be tabled in each House of Parliament.

The Minister shall, where applicable, provide opportunities for public participation at the national, regional and local levels, including participation by aboriginal organizations, bodies established under land claims agreements and representatives of park communities, in the development of parks policy and regulations, the establishment of parks, the formulation of management plans, land use planning and development in relation to park communities and any other matters that the Minister considers relevant.

At least every two years, the Minister shall cause to be tabled in each House of Parliament a report on the state of the parks and on progress made towards the establishment of new parks.

Except as permitted by this Act or the regulations,

no public lands or right or interest in public lands in a park may be disposed of; and

no person shall use or occupy public lands in a park.

The Governor in Council may, by regulation, declare any area of a park that exists in a natural state or that is capable of returning to a natural state to be a wilderness area.

The Minister may not authorize any activity to be carried on in a wilderness area that is likely to impair the wilderness character of the area.

Notwithstanding subsection (2) but subject to any conditions that the Minister considers necessary, the Minister may authorize activities to be carried on in a wilderness area for purposes of

park administration;

public safety;

the provision of basic user facilities including trails and rudimentary campsites;

the carrying on of activities in accordance with regulations made under section 17; or

access by air to remote parts of the wilderness area.

Where a new or amended management plan sets out an area of a park for declaration as a wilderness area, the Minister shall recommend such declaration to the Governor in Council within one year after the plan or amendment is tabled under section 11.

The Minister may

enter into leases of, and easements or servitudes over, public lands in a park that are used for

the right-of-way of an existing railway line or the site of a railway station,

the right-of-way of an existing oil or gas pipeline or the site of a tank, reservoir, pump, rack, loading facility or other installation connected with such a pipeline, or

the right-of-way of an existing telecommunication or electrical transmission line or the site of an exchange, office, substation or other installation connected with such a transmission line;

enter into leases of, and easements or servitudes over, public lands in a park that are required for any alteration to or deviation from a right-of-way referred to in paragraph (a) or for the relocation of any station or installation referred to in that paragraph; or

enter into leases or licences of occupation of, and easements or servitudes over, public lands in a park for the installation and operation of radio and television repeater stations, microwave towers, weather and telemetry stations and cosmic ray and other scientific monitoring stations.

Public lands in a park in which a right or interest is held for any purpose under this Act remain part of the park and, if those lands cease to be used for that purpose, the right or interest reverts to the Crown.

The Minister may terminate, or accept the surrender or resiliation of, a lease of public lands in a park and may terminate, or accept the relinquishment of, a licence of occupation of such lands or an easement or servitude over such lands.

The Expropriation Act applies in respect of the taking or acquisition of an interest in public lands in a park for the purposes of this Act where the holder of the interest does not consent and there is no cause for termination under subsection (3).

For the purposes of subsection (4), the Minister is deemed to be a minister referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition Minister in section 2 of that Act and the Parks Canada Agency is deemed to be a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act.

Notwithstanding the Expropriation Act, Her Majesty in right of Canada may not acquire any interest in land by expropriation for the purpose of enlarging a park or establishing a new park.

The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

the preservation, control and management of parks;

the protection of flora, soil, waters, fossils, natural features, air quality, and cultural, historical and archaeological resources;

the protection of fauna, the taking of specimens of fauna for scientific or propagation purposes, and the destruction or removal of dangerous or superabundant fauna;

the management and regulation of fishing;

the prevention and remedying of any obstruction or pollution of waterways;

the prevention and extinguishment of fire on park lands or threatening park lands;

the issuance, amendment and termination of leases, licences of occupation and easements or servitudes, and the acceptance of the surrender or resiliation of leases and the relinquishment of licences of occupation and easements or servitudes, of or over public lands

in park communities, for the purposes of residence, schools, churches, hospitals, trade, tourism and places of recreation or entertainment,

in existing resort subdivisions, for the purpose of residence,

outside park communities and existing resort subdivisions, for the purposes of schools, churches, hospitals, service stations, tourism and places for the accommodation, recreation or education of visitors to parks, and

in the town of Banff, for the purpose of the exercise by a local government body of functions specified in the agreement referred to in section 35;

the restriction or prohibition of activities and the control of the use of park resources and facilities;

the establishment, operation, maintenance and administration of works and services of a public character, such as water, sewage, electricity, telephone, gas, fire protection, garbage removal and disposal and cemeteries, including the designation, granting and maintenance of plots in cemeteries, and respecting the use of those works and services;

the establishment, maintenance, administration and use of roads, streets, highways, parking areas, sidewalks, streetworks, trails, wharves, docks, bridges and other improvements, and the circumstances under which they must be open or may be closed to public traffic or use;

the control of traffic on roads, streets and highways and elsewhere in parks, including the regulation of the speed, operation and parking of vehicles;

the surveying of public lands, the making of plans of surveyed lands, the delimitation in such plans of the boundaries of park communities, existing resort subdivisions and cemeteries, their designation as towns, visitor centres, resort subdivisions or cemeteries and the subdividing of lands so designated;

the control of the location, standards, design, materials, construction, maintenance, removal and demolition of buildings, structures, facilities, signs and other improvements and the establishment of zones governing uses of land and buildings;

the control of businesses, trades, occupations, amusements, sports and other activities or undertakings, including activities related to commercial ski facilities referred to in section 36, and the places where such activities and undertakings may be carried on;

the preservation of public health and the prevention of disease;

the inspection of buildings, structures, facilities and other improvements for the purpose of the enforcement of regulations made under paragraphs (m), (n) and (o);

the abatement and prevention of nuisances;

the determination of fees, rates, rents and other charges for the use of park resources and facilities, the provision of works and services referred to in paragraph (i) and improvements referred to in paragraph (j), and the issuance and amendment of permits, licences and other authorizing instruments pursuant to subsection (3);

public safety, including the control of firearms;

the use, transportation and temporary storage of pesticides and other toxic substances;

the control of domestic animals, including the impounding or destruction of such animals found at large;

the acquisition or disposition of prehistoric and historic objects and reproductions of them and the sale of souvenirs, consumer articles and publications;

the authorization of the use of park lands, and the use or removal of flora and other natural objects, by aboriginal people for traditional spiritual and ceremonial purposes;

the control of access to parks by air;

designating provisions of the regulations for the purpose of subsection 24(1); and

the summary removal from a park, by park wardens or enforcement officers, of persons found contravening specified provisions of this Act, the regulations or the Criminal Code, and the exclusion from a park for prescribed periods of those persons or persons convicted of offences under those provisions.

The establishment or use of any improvement referred to in paragraph (1)(j) does not operate to withdraw lands from a park.

Regulations made under this section may authorize the superintendent of a park, in the circumstances and subject to the limits that may be specified in the regulations,

to vary any requirement of the regulations for purposes of public safety or the conservation of natural resources in the park;

to issue, amend, suspend and revoke permits, licences and other authorizations in relation to any matter that is the subject of regulations and to set their terms and conditions; and

to order the taking of any action to counter any threat to public health or to remedy the consequences of any breach of the regulations in the park.

No lease, licence of occupation, easement or servitude may be issued or amended pursuant to regulations made under subparagraph (1)(g)(iii) for the purpose of the establishment of a new park community, resort subdivision, school, church or hospital.

The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the exercise of traditional renewable resource harvesting activities in

Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada;

Wapusk National Park of Canada;

Gros Morne National Park of Canada;

any national park of Canada established in the District of Thunder Bay in the Province of Ontario;

Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada; and

any national park of Canada established in an area where the continuation of such activities is provided for by an agreement between the Government of Canada and the government of a province respecting the establishment of the park.

Where an agreement for the settlement of an aboriginal land claim that is given effect by an Act of Parliament makes provision for traditional renewable resource harvesting activities or stone removal activities for carving purposes within any area of a park, or where aboriginal people have existing aboriginal or treaty rights to traditional renewable resource harvesting activities within any area of a park, the Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the carrying on of those activities in that area.

Regulations made under subsection (1) or (2) may

specify what are traditional renewable resource harvesting activities;

designate categories of persons authorized to engage in those activities and prescribe the conditions under which they may engage in them;

prohibit the use of renewable resources harvested in parks for other than traditional purposes;

control traditional renewable resource harvesting activities;

authorize the removal and disposal of any equipment or harvested resources left in a park in contravention of the regulations, and provide for the recovery of expenses incurred in their removal and disposal; and

notwithstanding anything in this subsection, authorize the superintendent of a park

to close areas of the park to traditional renewable resource harvesting activities for purposes of park management, public safety or the conservation of natural resources,

to establish limits on the renewable resources that may be harvested in any period, or to vary any such limits established by the regulations, for purposes of conservation, and

to prohibit or restrict the use of equipment in the park for the purpose of protecting natural resources.

In regulations made under subsection (2), subsection (3) may be applied to the removal of stone for carving purposes.

Regulations made under this section may authorize the superintendent of a park, in the circumstances described and to the extent provided in the regulations, to vary any requirement of the regulations for purposes of public safety or the conservation of natural resources in the park.

The Minister may designate persons appointed under the Parks Canada Agency Act, whose duties include the enforcement of this Act, to be park wardens for the enforcement of this Act and the regulations in any part of Canada and for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace in parks, and for those purposes park wardens are peace officers within the meaning of the Criminal Code.

The Minister may designate persons or classes of persons employed in the federal public administration or by a provincial, municipal or local authority or an aboriginal government, whose duties include law enforcement, to be enforcement officers for the purpose of the enforcement of specified provisions of this Act or the regulations in relation to specified parks, and for that purpose enforcement officers have the powers and are entitled to the protection provided by law to peace officers within the meaning of the Criminal Code.

The Minister may designate persons or classes of persons employed in the federal public administration or by a provincial, municipal or local authority or by an aboriginal government for the purpose of the enforcement of this Act or the regulations with respect to offences that have been designated as contraventions under the Contraventions Act.

The Minister may specify that a designation is in respect of one or more parks or in respect of all or specified offences under this Act that have been designated as contraventions under the Contraventions Act.

Every park warden, enforcement officer and person designated under section 19.1 shall be provided with a certificate of designation in a form approved by the Minister and shall take and subscribe an oath prescribed by the Minister.

The certificate must specify the limitations, if any, to which the designation is subject.

In the discharge of their duties, park wardens and enforcement officers and any persons accompanying them may enter on and pass through or over private property without being liable for doing so and without any person having the right to object to that use of the property.

Park wardens and enforcement officers are not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Act.

A park warden or enforcement officer may, in accordance with the Criminal Code, arrest without warrant any person

whom the warden or officer finds committing an offence under this Act; or

who the warden or officer believes, on reasonable grounds, has committed or is about to commit an offence under this Act.

A park warden or enforcement officer may

enter and search any place and open and examine any package or receptacle in accordance with a warrant issued under subsection (2) at any time during the day or, if so specified in the warrant, during the night; and

seize any thing that the warden or officer believes on reasonable grounds is a thing described in subsection (2).

If a justice of the peace, on ex parte application, is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is in any place, including any building or any vehicle, vessel or other conveyance, or in any package or receptacle, the justice of the peace may issue a warrant authorizing a park warden or enforcement officer named in the warrant to enter and search the place or to open and examine the package or receptacle, subject to any conditions specified in the warrant.

any thing in relation to which there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence under this Act or the regulations has been committed, or

any thing that there are reasonable grounds to believe will afford evidence with respect to the commission of such an offence,

A park warden or enforcement officer may exercise any powers under subsection (1) without a warrant if the conditions for obtaining a warrant exist but by reason of exigent circumstances it would not be practical to obtain one.

Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and sections 28 and 29, where a park warden or enforcement officer seizes a thing under this Act or under a warrant issued pursuant to the Criminal Code,

sections 489.1 and 490 of the Criminal Code apply; and

the warden or officer, or any person that the warden or officer may designate, shall retain custody of the thing, subject to any order made under section 490 of the Criminal Code.

If the lawful ownership of or entitlement to a seized thing cannot be ascertained within 30 days after its seizure, the thing or any proceeds of its disposition are forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada, if the thing was seized by a park warden or by an enforcement officer employed in the federal public administration, or to Her Majesty in right of a province, if the thing was seized by an enforcement officer employed by a provincial, municipal or local authority or an aboriginal government.

If a seized thing is perishable, the park warden or enforcement officer may dispose of it or destroy it, and any proceeds of its disposition shall be paid to the lawful owner or person lawfully entitled to possession of the thing, unless proceedings under this Act are commenced within 90 days after its seizure, or shall be retained by the warden or officer pending the outcome of those proceedings.

If a thing is seized under this Act, the person who owned the thing at the time that it was seized, the person who had charge or control of the thing immediately before it was seized and the person who possessed it immediately before it was seized are jointly and severally, or solidarily, liable for all the costs of seizure, detention, maintenance and forfeiture, including any destruction or disposal costs, incurred by Her Majesty in right of Canada in relation to the thing in excess of any proceeds of its disposition, if any.

Every person who contravenes section 13, subsection 32(1) or a provision of the regulations designated by regulations made under paragraph 16(1)(y) is guilty of an offence and liable

on conviction on indictment,

in the case of an individual,

for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $15,000 and not more than $1,000,000, and

for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $30,000 and not more than $2,000,000,

in the case of a person, other than an individual or a corporation referred to in subparagraph (iii),

for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $500,000 and not more than $6,000,000, and

for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $1,000,000 and not more than $12,000,000, and

in the case of a corporation that the court has determined under section 27.1 to be a small revenue corporation,

for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $75,000 and not more than $4,000,000, and

for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $150,000 and not more than $8,000,000; or

on summary conviction,

in the case of an individual,

for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $300,000, and

for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $10,000 and not more than $600,000,

in the case of a person, other than an individual or a corporation referred to in subparagraph (iii),

for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $100,000 and not more than $4,000,000, and

for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $200,000 and not more than $8,000,000, and

in the case of a corporation that the court has determined under section 27.1 to be a small revenue corporation,

for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $25,000 and not more than $2,000,000, and

for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $50,000 and not more than $4,000,000.

Every person who contravenes any provision of the regulations other than a provision designated by regulations made under paragraph 16(1)(y), any of subsections 41.5(3) to (5), any condition of a permit, licence or other authorizing instrument issued under the regulations or under subsection 41.1(3) or (4) or 41.4(2) or (3) or any order or direction given by a superintendent, park warden or enforcement officer under subsection 41.1(3) or (4) or 41.4(2) or (3) is guilty of an offence and liable

on conviction on indictment,

in the case of an individual,