Question Period Note: Parks Canada Assets

Parks Canada Assets

• The Government of Canada is committed to investing in Canada’s national historic sites, national parks, and national marine conservation areas.
• Through investment in our infrastructure assets, Parks Canada is protecting and conserving these treasured places, while supporting local economies, and contributing to growth in the tourism sector.
• Budget 2021 announced $35 million to allow the Agency to maintain its internal capacity and expertise to manage its contemporary and cultural heritage assets through 2022-23.
• By March 2023, the Agency will have invested nearly $4.2 billion in the delivery of 985 high-priority projects to improve the condition of these assets in national parks and national historic sites in all areas of the country.
• Parks Canada is developing a long-term plan to ensure effective management and ongoing sustainability of its wide-ranging and diverse portfolio.

• Parks Canada is mandated with the protection and presentation of nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage. Canada's network of 222 national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas protect some 450,000 square kilometres of Canada's iconic geography, diverse ecology, and rich history and bring it to life for millions of visitors every year.

• Its diverse portfolio includes cultural heritage assets mainly found in national historic sites; contemporary visitor experience assets such as campgrounds, visitor facilities, and trails; 1,083 km of major highways passing through 18 national parks and one national historic site; and waterway assets – including bridges, dams, and canal walls, located throughout nine heritage canals in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia spanning a total of 625 km.

• Whereas many federal custodians rely on their built assets to support their mandated program delivery, Parks Canada’s assets are inextricably linked to mandate delivery and therefore directly contribute to Government priority outcomes.

• However, as the Parks Canada asset portfolio was assembled over many decades, the funding required to maintain and reinvest in these assets was not provided. Many large assets were transferred to Parks Canada without any related funding. As a result of this systemic underfunding, decades’ worth of deferred work continued to accumulate resulting in wide-spread asset deterioration, as per assessments in 2012.

• Investing in the Agency’s asset base has been a focus of the Government since 2014, and Parks Canada has been delivering on its asset investment commitments with time-limited funding. At the end of the current program of work almost 1,000 completed projects will have allowed the Agency to make gains on its backlog of deferred work. While these investments have permitted improvement in the overall condition of the Agency’s asset portfolio, additional capital investments are required

• The Agency is developing a long-term plan to ensure ongoing sustainability of its infrastructure portfolio. Without sufficient ongoing funding, Parks Canada will not be able to properly maintain and recapitalize its large and diverse asset portfolio, thus impacting its ability to deliver its mandate and the associated programs that permit Canadians to access and experience Canada’s natural and cultural heritage.

• Through the continued delivery of its infrastructure investment program, Parks Canada is also addressing government priorities including: stimulating domestic economic growth and promoting tourism; ensuring public health and safety; enhancing accessibility and inclusivity of public infrastructure; promoting climate change resilience; greening government operations, and furthering Canada’s reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and nations.

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