National partners

BC Parks Foundation – PaRx

An initiative of the BC Parks Foundation, PaRx is a nature-based prescription program driven by health-care professionals who want to improve their patients’ health by connecting them to nature.

Parks Canada has signed a three-year Partnering Agreement with the BC Parks Foundation to help people connect with Parks Canada administered places with the goal of improving their health through time spent in natural and cultural settings. Through the collaboration, Parks Canada will provide PaRx with Adult Discovery Passes. Participating health care prescribers across Canada will have the opportunity to prescribe Adult Parks Canada Discovery Passes to their patients.

Destination Canada

Destination Canada (DC) is Canada's national tourism marketing organization. DC leads the Canadian tourism industry in marketing Canada as a premier four-season tourism destination where travellers have access to extraordinary experiences. Working together, Parks Canada and DC strive to encourage a sustainable tourism approach that facilitates growth and development while protecting Canada’s natural and cultural heritage resources in communities across the country. Parks Canada strategically aligns its international marketing efforts with those of DC, collaborating on a number of initiatives including/ participating in travel trade and travel media marketplaces like Rendez-vous Canada and GoMedia Canada, providing training to DC’s Canada Specialists, and featuring Parks Canada experiences as part of the Canadian Signature Experiences collection.

Home Hardware

Home Hardware and Parks Canada have collaborated to design a paint collection created from the breathtaking landscapes, unique plants, and amazing animals in national parks. Working together, the colours were capsured™ directly from nature, and assembled in an inspiring National Parks of Canada Colour Collection. With this palette, Parks Canada and Home Hardware are giving people a new way to bring home the beauty and diversity of national parks.

Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC)

Parks Canada is proud to partner with the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada with the goal of enhancing and growing authentic Indigenous experiences.

The agreement provides new opportunities for growth Indigenous tourism experiences created in collaboration between Parks Canada and Indigenous communities, businesses and entrepreneurs.

The two organizations will promote market-ready experiences through the creation of travel itineraries. This will support authentic Indigenous travel experiences to grow and develop in Parks Canada spaces.

ITAC works to improve the socio-economic condition of Aboriginal people within Canada. For more information, visit IndigenousTourism.ca.

Institute for Canadian Citizenship

Parks Canada is proud to collaborate with the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), a national, non-profit organization that engages Canadians through innovative programs, campaigns, and partnerships to create meaningful connections among all Canadian citizens, to foster a culture of active and engaged citizenship, and to celebrate what it means to be Canadian.

The ICC’s Canoo mobile app provides new Canadian citizens with complimentary admission to almost one thousand cultural and heritage attractions during their first year of citizenship. Parks Canada is providing free regular admission to our national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas.

Mountain Equipment Company

Parks Canada and MEC (Mountain Equipment Company) have partnered to develop and deliver the "Learn-to Camp" national program . The Learn-to Camp program is aiming to instill the confidence in participants to camp on their own and to find enjoyment in camping while connecting to experiences at places managed by Parks Canada. MEC like Parks Canada, encourages Canadians of all ages to experience the outdoors and have a connection to nature. They are a leading retailer with 21 stores across the country serving more than 6 million members.

Parkbus

Parkbus is a non-profit initiative providing express bus service from cities to key outdoor destinations across Canada. Parks Canada recognizes that transportation is a barrier that many urban Canadians face when planning a visit to a national park and is proud to collaborate with Parksbus to offer environmentally friendlier and affordable options for city dwellers to get out, discover and enjoy Canada’s natural wonders.

In 2018 Parkbus, along with their partners, will offer fully-subsidised shuttle bus runs to transport visitors from downtown Toronto to Rouge National Urban Park, and from Edmonton to Elk Island National Park. Parkbus also provides regular runs to Bruce Peninsula National Park, Georgian Bay Islands, and Fathom Five National Marine Park from Toronto, as well as Kejimkujik National Park from Halifax, as per the schedule listed online at www.parkbus.ca.

Trans Canada Trail

The Trans Canada Trail is a 21,500 km recreational trail that winds its way through every province ad territory, from coast to coast. When completed in 2017, it will be the world’s longest recreational trail, connecting Canadians and international visitors to Canada’s natural and cultural heritage. Parks Canada and the Trans Canada Trail are proud to collaborate on the improvement of sustainable multiple-use trail planning, development and management as well as encourage the use and enjoyment of trails.

Wapikoni

Wapikoni mobile’s mission is to promote the expression of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people through film and music creation and the dissemination of these works. By offering Indigenous talent one-on-one support and mentoring, our organization contributes to their personal, professional and creative development while respecting their narrative sovereignty. Wapikoni provides these artists with a distribution service to disseminate their works across Canada and the world, promoting knowledge and building awareness about First Peoples’ realities. Since 2004, Wapikoni has collected more than 1,300 short films and 900 musical pieces, visited 45 communities and 36 nations in Canada and abroad, won more than 220 awards and mentions, and demonstrated a strong presence at hundreds of festivals and events. The goal of the Partnering Agreement between Parks Canada and Wapikoni is to facilitate screenings of their short films in Parks Canada-administered places. Screenings are presented by two artist-ambassadors, who also initiate a conversation with viewers, in a spirit of sharing, learning, awareness, and cross-cultural bridging.