Canada’s National Parks will be free in 2017

Canada’s National Parks will be free to visitors in 2017 to celebrate the country’s 150^th birthday.

Canoe on Moraine Lake in Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park. Image by Mark Read

The government has launched a new initiative that will make the parks free for one year and continuously free for youth, starting in 2018. People who have become a Canadian citizen in the last year will receive one year’s free admission.

Canada’s park system was established in 1911 and was the world’s first National Park system.

The Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, Canada. Image by gLangille / CC BY 2.0

The expansive country has about 100 National Parks, marine conservation areas and historic sites in every province and territory, which range in size from 14 square-kilometres to 45,000 square-kilometres. The parks include the famous Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Rocky Mountains, the Bay of Fundy, and much of Canada’s north.

Read more: Celebrate 100 years with 16 free days at America’s national parks

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