Toward a national urban parks policy — Discussion paper

1. Why this work is important

Parks Canada is collaborating with partners, including Indigenous peoples, to create a network of national urban parks in Canada’s large urban centers. National urban parks hold tremendous potential to conserve and restore nature in cities, help protect cities from the impacts of climate change like floods and heat waves, improve access to nature for people living in cities, protect and promote local cultural heritage, and advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Conserving nature, connecting people with nature, and advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples are the core objectives that form the foundation of the national urban parks policy, which is in development, and they help guide the work at each of the program’s candidate sites.

The sections that follow outline Parks Canada’s proposed approach to ensuring that national urban parks uphold a set of common principles and contribute to the core objectives. The paper presents the proposed guiding principles, proposed requirements that must be met for a candidate national urban park to be designated by Parks Canada, proposed standards that must be maintained to retain the designation, and proposed process for re-assessing a national urban park’s designation.

Your feedback on these elements will help Parks Canada develop the national urban parks policy.

2. Guiding principles

The national urban parks policy will outline requirements that must be met for Parks Canada to designate a national urban park and it will specify standards that must be maintained in national urban parks. Parks Canada proposes the guiding principles below as a foundation for designation requirements and operational standards and to inform decisions regarding the management of national urban parks. Recognizing that the national urban parks policy may not cover all possible scenarios that may arise in the administration of each national urban park, the principles will also guide organizations responsible for administering and governing national urban park when the Policy is silent on a particular topic. Parks Canada’s early discussions with partners and stakeholders indicate that these principles reflect shared values; they may evolve over time as Parks Canada continues to engage with different groups.

• Respecting Indigenous stewardship: Ensure the meaningful, deliberate, and early and ongoing involvement of Indigenous peoples in the selection and designation of national urban parks to advance reconciliation based on transparency, mutual recognition, and respect within Ethical Space. National urban parks will uphold the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and support implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action.
• Meaningful engagement: Decisions related to designating and managing national urban parks are informed by meaningful, deliberate, early and ongoing engagement with national urban park partners, stakeholders, and the broader community, reflecting the importance of transparency, and with a commitment to treating all persons with dignity.
• Collaboration: Organizations involved in the stewardship of national urban parks work cooperatively, respectful of diverse values and interests, toward shared objectives.
• Flexible and innovative: National urban parks, while contributing to common core objectives of conserving nature, connecting people with nature, and advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, will be uniquely shaped by, and reflect, their local contexts, including relationships, cultures, heritage, traditional land uses, landscapes, legal environments, ecosystems, and other past and present dynamics. National urban parks will encourage creativity and new ideas, test new approaches, and amplify diverse voices.
• Evidence-based decision making: Decisions related to designating and managing national urban parks are made using all the best available information, with a holistic view that weaves together multiple ways of knowing, including science and Indigenous Knowledge, while being adaptable as new or updated information becomes available over time.
• Fiscal responsibility: National urban parks are planned and managed responsibly, reflecting the resources and capacity of partnering organizations and jurisdictions, to ensure long-term sustainability. Organizations involved in administering and managing a national urban park will demonstrate accountability related to the use of public funds for the national urban park.

Seeking your views

Q: To what extent do you agree with the proposed Guiding Principles?

Q: What elements of the Guiding Principles resonate with you the most?

Q: Are there elements of the Guiding Principles that you feel are missing or you would change? If so, please identify and explain why.

3. Requirements and standards for national urban parks

A. Contributing to the three core objectives for national urban parks

National urban parks will contribute to three interconnected core objectives:

• Conserving nature;
• Connecting people with nature; and
• Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

These core objectives provide a framework for the design and management of individual national urban parks. Each national urban park will contribute to the core objectives in ways that reflect the local contexts and interests of partners and stakeholders.

To ensure that these objectives are met, Parks Canada proposes that the organizations responsible for administering or governing a proposed national urban park demonstrate their commitment to meet several requirements at the time of designation, and to meet several standards in the operation and management of the national urban park in order to maintain its designation. Parks Canada proposes the following designation requirement that ensures these commitments are articulated prior to designation:

• In a multi-partner model, all organizations responsible for the governance of the park must sign a legally binding agreement, confirming their consent to meet the requirements for maintaining designation. Among other things, the agreement will also articulate governance arrangement for the national urban park, including roles, responsibilities, and financial commitments such as cost sharing and cost recovery arrangements.
• If only one organization is responsible for the national urban park a similar agreement would be signed with Parks Canada.
• If the national urban park is administered by Parks Canada similar information would be communicated through a formal statement by the Government of Canada.

The sections below articulate Parks Canada’s proposed requirements and standards for each of the core objectives.

Objective – Conserving nature

National urban parks will take meaningful steps to conserve nature. To ensure this, the organizations involved in administering a national urban park will need to make commitments and take concrete steps such as protecting part or all of the site through legal or other means, producing plans to improve degraded ecosystems and habitat, committing to plant trees and vegetation to absorb greenhouse gasses and improve climate resilience, and more.

Proposed designation requirements

Parks Canada proposes that, in order to be designated, a proposed national urban park needs to meet the following minimum requirements associated with the core objective of conserving nature:

• Part or all of the proposed national urban park must be a protected area or ‘other effective area-based conservation measure’ reported in the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database. ^{Footnote 1} Protected areas and ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ are places that are managed in ways that conserve nature for the long term. These can be areas administered by many types of organizations such as federal, provincial, municipal governments, Indigenous authorities (for example, Indigenous protected and conserved areas), land trusts, private owners, or others, provided they meet the criteria of protected areas and ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ that have been adopted by Canada and internationally. This designation requirement helps ensure that the national urban park will continue to make a positive and enduring contribution to nature.
• Organizations responsible for administering the national urban park commit to implement substantial and effective activities to mitigate pressures and threats to biodiversity, protect sensitive ecosystems and culturally significant landscapes, restore degraded ecosystems, conserve habitat for species at risk, contribute to climate resilience and implement nature-based climate solutions. Conservation needs and actions will vary from one national urban park to another. These can be outlined in general at the time of designation and articulated in greater specificity through monitoring and management planning after the national urban park is created (see below for additional information on operational standards).
• Organizations responsible for administering the lands and waters within the national urban park commit to only allowing land and water uses, infrastructure projects, or development activities that are consistent with the objectives of the park or are vital to the function of the urban area. To meet this requirement, municipal zoning amendments or heritage designations may be required for example, to change an area of the city that is zoned for commercial use to parkland, or provincial protection may be necessary, for example through legislative or regulatory measures. Given that this can take a long time, a commitment and demonstrated progress to take the necessary steps would be required.
• Organizations responsible for administering the national urban park commit to:
• explore opportunities to increase the area that is recognized as protected area or ‘other effective area-based conservation measure’ by conserving more of the area within national urban park or expanding the national urban park;
• explore opportunities to create buffers with the surrounding area; and,
• strengthen the quality and effectiveness of conservation measures to ensure that ecological health is maintained and improved.

Proposed standards to maintain designation

Parks Canada proposes that, in order to maintain designation as a national urban park, each park is required to continue to meet the designation requirements above and to act on the commitments made at the time of designation. Parks Canada proposes that designated national urban parks also meet the following minimum standards associated with the core objective of conserving nature:

• Protection measures are not weakened or removed and there is no reduction in the amount of area that is recognized as a protected area or an ‘other effective area-based conservation measure’.
• Demonstrated and ongoing commitment to nature conservation. National urban parks will take action to conserve biodiversity and contribute to climate resilience in the national urban park.
• Management decisions do not compromise the park’s nature conservation goals. National urban parks may use different ‘zones’ to identify areas within the park that are subject to different degrees of protection, heritage designations, or that can support different levels of visitor activity.
• The national urban park continues to only include land uses, infrastructure, or development activities that are consistent with the objectives of the park or are vital to the function of the urban area; zoning amendments are implemented, as applicable; pre-existing incompatible land uses are mitigated as much as possible or removed where feasible.

Seeking your views

Q: Overall, do you agree with the proposed designation requirements related to conserving nature that must be met to designate a national park?

Q: Overall do you agree with the proposed standards to maintain designation related to conserving nature that must be maintained?

Q: Are there elements of the proposed designation requirements or standards to maintain designation related to conserving nature that you feel are missing or you would change? If so, please identify and explain why.

Q: Do you feel there are any barriers to meeting the designation requirements or standards to maintain designation related to conserving nature? If so, please identify and explain.

Objective - Connecting people with nature

National urban parks will create a welcoming public space for all visitors and users to connect with nature, learn about natural and cultural heritage, and enjoy the benefits of spending time outside. To ensure this, the organizations involved in administering a national urban park will need to make commitments and take concrete steps.

Proposed designation requirements

Parks Canada has identified four key considerations that are essential to ensure national urban parks connect people with nature equitably and inclusively: fees; public and active transportation; equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility; and, languages. Parks Canada proposes that, in order to be designated, a proposed national urban park needs to meet the following minimum requirements associated with these four considerations:

1. Fees
• Organizations responsible for administering the national urban park commit to ensuring that access to the grounds of the national urban park will remain free. Admission or participation fees may be charged for the use of facilities, installations, programs or other park offerings to support cost recovery.
2. Public and active transportation
• The national urban park can be accessed by public transportation, or other modes of affordable and accessible mass transit services or there is an approved plan for achieving this requirement within a defined period.
• The national urban park can be accessed by active transportation or there is an approved plan for achieving this requirement within a defined period. Active transportation includes all modes self-powered transportation; active transportation is made possible through infrastructure like pathways, bike lanes, multi-use trails and widened sidewalks.
3. Equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility
• Partners responsible for administering the national urban park develop an equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility action plan, which must be informed by engagement with equity-deserving communities and reflective of the cultural diversity of the location.
• Partners responsible for administering the national urban park commit to the Principles of the Accessible Canada Act and/or equivalent municipal or provincial standards, and to incorporating those principles into the development and design of policies, programs, services, and structures in the national urban park.
• New national urban park products, infrastructure, facilities, and structures designed, built or funded by Parks Canada will incorporate universal design principles and the latest accessibility standards to ensure that visitors and users of all abilities are able to access them.
• Visitor information is accessible to all visitors and users.
4. Languages
• Partners responsible for administering the national urban park commit to ensuring that services and signage in the national urban parks are available in both official languages (English and French), as well as Indigenous languages and other languages, per the local context.

Proposed standards to maintain designation

Parks Canada proposes that, in order to maintain designation as a national urban park, each park is required to continue to meet the designation requirements above and to act on the commitments made at the time of designation. In addition, Parks Canada proposes that designated national urban parks also meet the following minimum standards associated with the core objective of connecting people with nature:

• Organizations responsible for administering the national urban park implement the equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility action plan, and updates it as necessary.
• The national urban park features programming, outreach activities, and visitor experiences that give visitors and users opportunities to connect with and learn about the natural and cultural heritage of the park, and, as applicable, the broader network of protected and conserved spaces in Canada and the world. These will include accessible and meaningful experiences for diverse interests and voices, including equity-deserving groups.

Seeking your views

Q: Overall, do you agree with the proposed designation requirements related to connecting people with nature that must be met to designate a national park?

Q: Overall do you agree with the proposed standards to maintain designation related to connecting people with nature that must be maintained?

Q: Are there elements of the proposed designation requirements or standards to maintain designation related to connecting people with nature that you feel are missing or you would change? If so, please identify and explain why.

Q: Do you feel there are any barriers to meeting the designation requirements or standards to maintain designation related to connecting people with nature? If so, please identify and explain.

Objective - Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples

National urban parks will foster meaningful partnerships and enable leadership by Indigenous peoples based on their level of interest. This includes supporting a renewed approach to Indigenous stewardship centered around a vision of management and governance that is respectfully aligned with Indigenous ways of stewarding lands, water, and ice. National urban parks will support culture-based programming and activities to facilitate learning opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Proposed designation requirements

Parks Canada proposes that, in order to be designated, a proposed national urban park needs to meet the following minimum requirements associated with the core objective of advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples:

• Significant support for the designation of the national urban park from Indigenous governments and communities whose territories/treaty lands/homelands are overlain by the proposed national urban park. The level of capacity and interest from Indigenous partners may vary or change overtime, but support should be confirmed through a letter of support or similar.
• Under all governance models, Indigenous peoples have leadership roles in national urban park governance, for instance, through a cooperative management arrangement. Indigenous governments and organizations play a leadership role and are meaningfully engaged or involved at each step of designation, as they desire to be.

Proposed standards to maintain designation

Parks Canada proposes that, in order to maintain designation as a national urban park, each park is required to continue to meet the designation requirements above and to act on the commitments made at the time of designation. In addition, Parks Canada proposes that designated national urban parks also meet the following minimum standards associated with the core objective of advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples:

• The national urban park provides opportunities for Indigenous leadership and stewardship.
• Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship is recognized and can be undertaken in accordance with their culture, worldviews, and intergenerational knowledge.
• The national urban park supports the rights and responsibilities of Indigenous connections to lands and waters and to practice cultural activities. These opportunities may foster the promotion of Indigenous voices and stories to create a sense of place.
• The national urban park supports economic development opportunities for Indigenous peoples that are aligned with the overall objectives of the national urban park.
• Indigenous peoples continue to support the purpose and operation of the park.
• The governance of the national urban park continues to support, recognize, and respect Indigenous leadership.
• Indigenous systems of law, governance, and knowledge are part of and prioritized in decision-making (management and governance processes).

Seeking your views

Q: Overall, do you agree with the proposed designation requirements related to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples that must be met to designate a national park?

Q: Overall do you agree with the proposed standards to maintain designation related to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples that must be maintained?

Q: Are there elements of the proposed designation requirements or standards to maintain designation related to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples that you feel are missing or you would change? If so, please identify and explain why.

Q: Do you feel there are any barriers to meeting the designation requirements or standards to maintain designation related to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples? If so, please explain.

B. Meeting the designation requirements

Parks Canada proposes that a candidate national urban park that does not meet all of the designation requirements at the time of designation could potentially be designated as a national urban park if Parks Canada determines that there is strong potential to meet any outstanding requirement in time, there is clear alignment with the guiding principles in the national urban parks policy, and the proposed park will make a strong contribution to the core objectives of the National Urban Parks Program overall. Recognizing local variance, Parks Canada will make each designation decision on a case-by-case basis.

Seeking your views

Q: To what extent should there be flexibility in the designation requirements to allow for a candidate national urban park to meet the requirements over time?

4. Operations and management

In order to uphold the guiding principles, meet the core objectives, and be enduring, national urban parks will need to be administered and managed responsibly. To ensure this, Parks Canada proposes that national urban parks must meet the following minimum standards related to operations and management.

Parks Canada proposes the following minimum standards:

• At all times, each national urban park must have a governing authority that is responsible and accountable for overseeing management and operation of the park.
• The organizations responsible for administering each national urban park must collaborate to review existing rules and laws and identify whether additional restrictions, laws, or regulations may be necessary to support the objectives of the park (e.g. nature conservation) and whether changes may be needed to eliminate barriers to participation by specific groups (e.g. harvesting by Indigenous peoples).
• Work with local authorities to align, enact and enforce rules (e.g. municipal zoning and bylaws, restorative justice, Indigenous laws and municipal or provincial laws and enforcement), layering legal authorities in a coordinated and effective way to support the objectives of the national urban park.
• Each national urban park must prepare a management plan within five years of designation, reviewed every 10 years thereafter, that reflects, at a minimum the set of common standards developed by Parks Canada and the network of national urban parks. Management plans must be informed by meaningful engagement and consultation with Indigenous peoples, partners, key stakeholders, and the broader public.
• Each national urban park must produce an annual progress report on a set of common performance measures identified by Parks Canada and the network of national urban parks, and a more detailed report due every 10 years to support the periodic review of the park’s management plan. If reports or periodic reviews indicate that a national urban park is not meeting the requirements in the national urban parks policy, this may trigger a review process led by Parks Canada. Please see the following section on Maintaining Designation for more details.

Seeking your views

Q: Do you have any concerns, or anticipate any challenges associated with the proposed requirements regarding management planning, monitoring, and reporting?

Q: Do you have any concerns, or anticipate any challenges associated with enacting and enforcing rules in national urban parks?

Q: What standard performance measures do you think all national urban parks should report on?

Q: What kind of expertise, support or resources will a national urban park need to be able to meet the proposed management, monitoring, and reporting requirements?

5. Maintaining designation

Many of the proposed designation requirements, requirements to maintain designation, and minimum operating and management standards may be implemented over time. Annual reporting and periodic reviews will provide insights into a national urban park’s accomplishments and provide opportunities for Parks Canada to work with national urban parks to identify and address any challenges.

It is possible however, that major challenges could result in a national urban park’s designation status being threatened. The Backgrounder outlines certain circumstances that could trigger a process for Parks Canada to re-assess a national urban park’s designation. At the broadest scale, these are:

• A national urban park ceases to meet the requirements articulated in the national urban parks policy.
• A governing partner in a national urban park (including Parks Canada) requests an assessment of the national urban park’s designation.

Parks Canada will develop a process that will be articulated either in the Policy or in an associated guidance document and that would be followed in the event of major disruptions or challenges that threaten a national urban park’s designation status. In this process, Parks Canada in consultation with the organizations responsible for the governance and administration of the national urban park could take the following steps:

• Examine annual reports and periodic reviews and conduct site visits as necessary.
• Develop a strategy identifying actions and support needed to resolve the challenges.
• Monitor progress in resolving the challenges over a defined period and adapt the strategy as needed.
• Consider assigning a probationary status to the national urban park’s designation if challenges are not resolved, and review and amend the strategy to resolve challenges.
• Determine whether to remove the probationary status if the challenges are resolved or to revoke the national urban park designation if the challenges are determined to be irresolvable.

Seeking your views

Q: What do you suggest the process should look like in the event of major disruptions or challenges that threaten the implementation of a national urban park?

Q: Are there specific circumstances that you think should trigger such a process?

6. Next steps

Your feedback on this Discussion Paper and your support for the National Urban Parks Program are greatly appreciated. You are invited to provide feedback by completing the national urban parks policy survey, where you can respond the Discussion Questions found throughout this paper.

Parks Canada will continue to develop the national urban parks policy based on feedback that is submitted in response to this Discussion Paper, and based on continued conversations with Indigenous governments and organizations, and with local partners and stakeholders in candidate national urban park sites.

Once completed, the first edition of the Policy will enable the designation of several national urban parks that are currently advancing through the designation process. Following its release, the Policy will be reviewed carefully considering the lessons learned from the designation of these parks and may be amended to address any challenges, gaps, or deficiencies.