Admission passes available to people displaced for the establishment of three Parks Canada places in Cape Breton

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site

Access pass for people whose lands were expropriated from Parks Canada places on Cape Breton

The Admission Pass for Expropriated Families, introduced in 2011, is a special program to provide property owners expropriated from land that is now Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Fortress of Louisbourg and Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Sites, and their descendants, with a means of returning to places tied to their personal histories. 

Parks Canada is expanding the Admission Pass for Expropriated Families program from three generations to the fourth, fifth and sixth generations. This is an important step towards continuing to rebuild relationships with local communities and to help affected families preserve memories and stories related to these places. 

Parks Canada recognizes that many families were greatly impacted by the displacement that took place as part of the process to establish Parks Canada places in Cape Breton. Parks Canada ceased the practice of expropriation in 1970s, but past events remain an important part of the history of local communities and Parks Canada. The Admission Pass for Expropriated Families is one of the many ways that Parks Canada wishes to commemorate families affected by expropriation. 

You may be eligible to receive an Admission Pass for Expropriated Families if you can provide information that supports you are a family member of someone who owned land in these areas during that time. Eligibility will be determined based on existing historic records or evaluated on a case-by-case basis. With this pass, holders and their family have free admission to the national park or national historic site where the property was expropriated. 

Descendants of expropriates simply fill out an application form identifying their relationship to an expropriated individual (original land owner) and a pass will be mailed to them. 
Current holders of the Admission Pass for Expropriated Families may notice that their pass expires April 1, 2020. Current pass holders will be granted free admission, regardless of the date they visit, and can present their old pass to be renewed.

For new applications or pass renewals, family members are encouraged to reach out to the appropriate site in-person, by phone, or by email, for more information.

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