National Parks of Canada - Creation and Development

Creation and Development

On July 20, 1871, the Crown Colony of British Columbia committed to Confederation with Canada. Under the union’s terms, Canada was to begin construction of a transcontinental railway to connect the Pacific Coast to the eastern provinces. As the Canadian Pacific Railway went underway in 1875 and surveyors began to study the land, location of the country’s natural resources sprouted further interest. Evidence of minerals quickly introduced the construction of mines and resource exploitation in Canada’s previously untouched wilderness. Exploration led to the discovery of hot springs near Banff, Alberta and in November 1885, the Canadian Government made the springs public property, removing them from the possibility of private ownership and exploitation. This event brought about the beginning of Canada's movement towards preserving land and setting it aside for public usage as national parks. By the late 1880s, Thomas White, Canada’s Minister of the Interior, responsible for federal land management, Indian affairs, and natural resources extraction, began establishing a legislative motion towards establishing Canada’s first National Park in Banff.

May 1911 marked one of the most significant events in the administration and development of national parks in Canada as the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act were granted royal assent. This law saw the creation of the first administrative body, the Dominion Parks Branch, now known as Parks Canada, to administer national parks in Canada. With the Branch in place, the parks system expanded from Banff eastward, combining both use and protection as the foundation to national park management.

The major motives behind the creation of national parks in Canada were profit and preservation. Inspired by the establishment and success of Yellowstone National Park in the United States, Canada blended the conflicting ideas of preservation and commercialism in order to satisfy its natural resource needs, conservationist views of modern management, a growing public interest in the outdoors and the new popularity of getting back to nature. This growing interest to escape the hustle and bustle of the city brought about ideas of conserving Canada's unspoiled wildernesses by creating public parks. As a country dependent on natural resources, Canada’s national parks represent an example of a compromise between the demand for profit from the land’s resources and tourism, with the need for preservation and sustainable development.

While conservationist ideas and a common Canadian movement towards getting back to nature were evident in the early development of National Parks in Canada, a greater role was played by chambers of commerce, local governments, promoters of tourism and recreational groups who advocated profit-driven commercial development, while incorporating wildlife preservation when possible. Canada’s National Parks allowed the public an avenue into nature, while also integrating ideas of preserving Canada’s scenic landscape and wildlife populations in an era of development and major resource extraction.