Fonds consists of records created and or maintained by Canadian Parks Service. Audio-visual material can be found within the lower-level descriptions of the following series records: Ontario Regional Office; Western Regional Office; and Audio-Visual material related to Parks Canada.
Parks Canada Agency : Parks Canada had its origins in the Dominion Land Branch of the newly created Department of the Interior in 1873 (36 C., Vict., c. 4). Originally responsible for the survey, sale and lease of agricultural, mining and forest lands, further definition of its function came in 1884 when the Ministry was given the authority to reserve land on the crests and slopes of the Rocky Mountains for conservation purposes (47 Vict., c. 25; RG 15, vol. 311, file 69113). As the construction of the national railway moved westward, the mountains became a popular destination for visitors, particularly the mineral hot springs near Banff. The Crown decided to reserve from sale, settlement or squatting, ten square miles surrounding the hot springs. The hot springs decision prompted the subsequent establishment of the first Dominion park with the passing of the Rocky Mountains Park Act (50-51 Vict., c. 32; PC 1359, 6 July 1886, Annual Report 1887, pp. xx-xxiv). Other parks soon followed, in the West, along the St. Lawrence River and later in the Maritimes provinces.
In 1908, the Department of the Interior reorganized and the administration of Dominion Parks was placed under the control of the Superintendent of Forestry in the new Forestry and Irrigation Branch of the Department of Interior (Interior, Annual Report 1909, pp. xxxvi-xxxvii). This arrangement was amended in 1911 with the passage of the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act (1-2 Geo. V, p. 3) after administrative and policy conflicts developed between parks and forests. Parks were now to be managed by the Dominion Parks Branch. Records of the park branch were converted from the Department of the Interior's registry system and moved into a new classification system for the Dominion Parks Branch.
During and after the First World War the roles of the Parks branch were continually redefined but there were no corresponding administrative changes. From 1915 to 1917, during the First World War, camps for interned aliens were established within the Dominion parks, where inmates preformed manual labour tasks in the park. With the passage of the National Resources Act in 1930 (20-21 Geo. V, c. 3, c. 29) jurisdiction of national resources, a policy function the Dominion Parks Branch had gradually assumed, was transferred to the provinces. At the same time the National Parks Act (20-21 Geo. V, c. 33), further defined and protected the status of Dominion Parks, now identified as National Parks (and which numbered 18): without an Act of Parliament new parks could not be created and boundaries could not be altered. Furthermore, the Act authorized the establishment of National Historical Parks and clarified park policy regarding wildlife protection and development of natural resources. During the Great Depression the Unemployment Relief Act (21 Geo. V. c. 1) brought workers into the parks to help develop the parks' transportation infrastructure. From 1933 to 1935, the Parks Branch also assumed responsibility for tourism by absorbing the Tourist Division of the Department of the Interior. That function was eventually transferred to the Department of Railways and Canals in 1935 (Interior, Annual Report 1935, pt. III, p. 103).
The Department of the Interior was disbanded in 1936. Responsibility for the National Parks was shifted to the Lands, Parks and Forests Branch of the new Department of Mines and Resources (1 Ed. VIII, c. 33). The core functions of the Parks Branch remained intact, as did its administrative system. During the Second World War, the parks again hosted camps of workers, this time for conscientious objectors, who worked on various conservation projects. With the reorganization of Mines and Resources in 1947, the renamed National Parks Division was placed within the Lands and Development Services Branch (PC 211, 21 January 1947) and three years later, in another reorganization, moved to the Department of Resources and Development (13 Geo. VI, c. 16, c. 17, c. 18). With the repeal of the Dominion Lands Act in 1951, the park division acquired responsibility for the administration of timber berths in the national parks and the National Parks Act was amended to reflect this change (14 Geo. VI, c. 45).
The administrative structure remained stable until 1962 with one exception. A different file classification system was briefly introduced and then discarded after proving to be unpopular. In the same year the Royal Commission on Government Organization (Glassco Commission) was released and recommended a number of broad changes to government. A number of these suggestions were implemented within the parks division, the most important being the introduction of decentralization of the administration of the parks. Three field regions (Western Canada, Ontario and Quebec, and Atlantic Canada) were created along with positions for their respective directors (The Royal Commission on Government Organization, v. 2, pp. 30-40; Northern Affairs and National Resources, Annual Report 1963-1964, p. 19). During the 1960s a number of minor organizational changes occurred as the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources evolved into the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in 1966 (14-15 Eliz. II, c. 25). After another series of minor reorganizations within Indian Affairs and Northen Development and its successor, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, the Parks Branch was formally renamed the Parks Canada Program in 1973. Along with the name change, the program was organized into three major branches: the National Parks Branch, the National and Historic Parks and Sites Branch, and the Policy, Planning and Research Branch. Also included in the organization were the regional branches, the Public Hearings Office, and the Canals Division. Decentralization of functions started in the 1960s continued with the creation of regional branches for the Prairies (in Winnipeg) and Quebec (Quebec City) (Indian and Northern Affairs, Annual Report 1973-1974, pp. 6, 24.). During this period the Branch also dealt with several issues regarding native land claims on national park land and land set aside for national park purposes was given the legal status of "reserves" pending claims settlement. In 1979, responsibility for Parks Canada was transferred from Indian and Northern Affairs to the Department of the Environment (Environment Canada, Annual Report 1979-1980, pp. 1, 6) but the function of the units did not change in any significant manner. After 1984, the Parks Branch was placed under the Department of the Environment as the Canadian Parks Services Branch. As part of the Environment portfolio, an emphasis on maintaining the ecological integrity of the parks emerged as the Branch began reflecting some of the priorities of its parent department. In 1993, Parks Canada moved from Environment to the new Department of Heritage. Within the Heritage portfolio, Parks Canada subsequently became a separate agency with its own Chief Executive Officer reporting to the Minister of Canadian Heritage in 1998 under the Act to Establish the Parks Canada Agency (46-47 Eliz., II, 1997-98).
