Canada Strong Pass Boosts Visits To Parks, Museums But Adds Community Congestion - Beritaja

The national government’s Canada Strong Pass has been renewed for different summer, and while numbers show it has been a use for parks and museums, immoderate communities opportunity the boost has led to congestion.

The walk was announced this past outpouring arsenic a move to summation tourism while besides picking up connected Canadians’ evident vexation complete “51st state” rhetoric and tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Numbers released to BERITAJA bespeak the walk has been effective, pinch nationalist museums and parks some seeing an summation successful visits compared to 2024.

For example, the National Gallery of Canada reported Monday it saw 21,802 children, younker and young adults return advantage of the program, marking an 11 per cent summation successful the under-24 demographic, pinch wide attendance expanding 3.95 per cent.

The depository noted the walk was disposable for each visitors, not conscionable Canadian residents, truthful the information represents full attendance arsenic a whole.

Parks Canada said successful an email to BERITAJA that betwixt June 20 and Sept. 2, sites administered by the agency saw a 13 per cent summation successful visitation during the Canada Strong Pass, pinch 14.45 cardinal visitors estimated.

Nationally, Parks Canada said, nationalist historical sites saw about a 20 per cent increase, while nationalist parkland visits roseate by 9 per cent.

These accrued visits did travel pinch their ain issues, however.

Prince Edward Island National Park, for example, said connected July 26 that it had been experiencing a grounds number of visitors and postulation congestion.

The park, successful a station connected Facebook, encouraged visitors to cheque its page for the P.E.I. parkland for unrecorded updates connected postulation up of their planned sojourn and to see visiting earlier 10 a.m. aliases aft 3 p.m. to debar congestion.

The municipality of Banff, Alta., besides saw congestion issues of its own, though it said the spike successful visitors couldn’t beryllium straight correlated to the pass.

“What we do cognize is the full conveyance count astatine our entrances to municipality is up 5.7 per cent complete 2024, for the play Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, and 2024 was a grounds year. 2025 is connected way to beryllium a caller record,” said Jason Darrah, communications and trading head for the municipality, successful an email.

“We could besides opportunity that 2017 was the past clip location was free Park Pass admittance to the nationalist parkland for Canada 150 celebrations. In 2017, that twelvemonth had grounds conveyance visitation that was not surpassed until 2024.”

He said the summation could beryllium owed to respective factors, including the sentiment of Canadians wanting to picnic astatine location owed to the tariff dispute, the beardown U.S. dollar attracting American visitors and the Canada Strong Pass.

“The free Canada Strong Pass apt had much of an effect connected time visitors from the Calgary region than it would person influenced different Canadian visitors and world tourists,” Darrah added, saying those visitors often make decisions to travel to Banff “many months ahead,” earlier the walk was announced.

Darrah said about days during the summertime months, parking successful the full municipality had been afloat successful the morning, adding to the congestion of visitors trying to find a parking space.

Elk Island National Park unit told BERITAJA they’ve knowledgeable visitors dissimilar thing they’ve seen before, which sometimes required them to adjacent the gates owed to precocious numbers.

“For this summertime truthful far, we person seen exceedances of the capacity of the parkland connected several, respective weekends,” said Jana Cornoc, a visitant services squad leader pinch the park, connected Aug. 3.

She added that group request to retrieve not to fuss wildlife erstwhile visiting the park, arsenic location had been immoderate instances of wildlife harassment during the summer.

In its email, Parks Canada says it useful to “effectively negociate visitation,” including promoting little delicate areas of the parkland that besides mostly pull less visitors. It besides implements impermanent postulation diversions aliases limits to circumstantial areas erstwhile necessary.

Earlier this month, the national authorities announced the Canada Strong Pass would erstwhile again beryllium disposable for summertime 2026, but it besides said free admittance would beryllium disposable for the upcoming vacation season.

According to Parks Canada, nationalist historical sites, nationalist parks and marine conservation areas operated by the section will person free admittance from Dec. 12 until Jan. 15, 2026, “to thief Canadians observe the holidays and walk clip pinch loved ones.”

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"Canada Strong Pass Boosts Visits To Parks, Museums But Adds Community Congestion - Beritaja"

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