Parks Canada Agency : Parks Canada has a mandate to protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage, and to foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations. The Parks Canada Agency Act (S.C. 1998, c. 31), which received Royal Assent on December 3, 1998, formally established the Parks Canada Agency as a separate legal entity under the federal government, replacing the Canadian Parks Service, which had operated under the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Parks Canada is responsible for the designation, protection and stewardship of national parks, national urban parks, national marine conservation areas, national historic sites and heritage canals. Its functional responsibilities are divided between five key program areas: Heritage Places Establishment; Heritage Places Conservation; Heritage Places Promotion and Public Support; Visitor Experiences; and Canals, Highways and Townsites Management. Parks Canada is further responsible for the direction and coordination of programs related to the gravesites of former prime ministers, federal heritage buildings, heritage railway stations, heritage lighthouses, heritage rivers, federal archaeology and UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere. The legislative framework for managing Canada's protected areas is broad in scope, comprising several acts and regulations.
Parks Canada is led by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) appointed by the Governor in Council. An Executive Board that includes the CEO and other senior managers sets the priorities for the organization. The CEO reports to the minister who is responsible for the overall direction of Parks Canada. The Minister of Canadian Heritage was responsible for Parks Canada until December 2003, when responsibility was transferred to the Minister of the Environment, later renamed the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Parks Canada's organizational structure is made up of three sectors: regional operations, national office program areas and internal support services. In 1998, the original organizational structure consisted of the National Parks Directorate and the National Historic Sites Directorate, which developed program direction and operational policies for its natural and cultural heritage programs. The Eastern Canada Directorate and the Western and Northern Canada Directorate provided strategic direction and program guidance to field units. In 1999, Parks Canada established the Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat to coordinate Indigenous issues at the organization, with the exception of land claim issues.
Beginning in 2005, Parks Canada launched a series of organizational renewal initiatives. In 2006, it created the External Relations and Visitor Experience Directorate to focus on facilitating memorable visitor experiences. The National Parks Directorate and the National Historic Sites Directorate were restructured and replaced with the Heritage Conservation and Commemorations Directorate and the Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation Directorate. The Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat amalgamated with the Heritage Conservation and Commemoration Directorate in April 2015 to form the Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Heritage Directorate.
Parks Canada has two main contribution programs: the General Class Contributions Program, which primarily supports Indigenous and not-for-profit organizations, and the National Historic Sites Cost-Sharing Program, which supports the conservation and presentation of national historic sites, heritage lighthouses and heritage railway stations not administered by the federal government. Parks Canada contributes to international heritage conservation as the Government of Canada's representative to UNESCO's World Heritage Convention and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and through participation in other international organizations, conventions and agreements.
Parks Canada's field units are responsible for program delivery in the regions, including the provision of on-site services to visitors. The field units consist of groupings that include elements from national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas situated in close proximity to one another. This proximity allows them to share management and administrative resources. A superintendent who reports directly to the CEO leads each field unit. Regional service centres supported both the national office and field units by providing professional and technical services and advice on Parks Canada policies, directives and guidelines. In 2012-13, the regional service centres closed, following a major agency restructuring. In April 2016, Parks Canada created the Operations Directorate, headed by a senior vice president, which consisted of five regional divisions: Pacific and Mountain Parks; Prairies, Yukon and Northwest Territories; Ontario and Waterways; Quebec and Nunavut; and Atlantic. In 2019, the Pacific and Mountain Parks division and the Prairies, Yukon and Northwest Territories division were reorganized into the British Columbia and Yukon division, Alberta division, and the Prairies and Northwest Territories division.
Corporate and internal services are included in the Strategic Policy and Investments Directorate, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer. Parks Canada is a "departmental corporation" under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act. The Parks Canada Agency Act authorized Parks Canada to retain and re-spend revenues, and it established Parks Canada as a separate employer from the core public administration, giving it flexibility to manage its workforce, with the CEO responsible for human resources matters.