What is the Plan for Parks?
The new Plan for Parks is the enduring strategic direction for recreation and conservation of sites managed under the Provincial Parks Act. This includes provincial parks, provincial recreation areas, and wildland provincial parks.
The new Plan for Parks provides a clear vision for the future, enduring goals, and outcomes. It provides supporting actions that will guide how to achieve these goals with a focus on the next ten years while responding to emerging pressures and embracing new opportunities. The Plan for Parks is not about any single park; It considers how parks across the province work together to achieve the vision for Alberta’s future.
What is the vision for Alberta’s parks?
The vision for Alberta’s parks is:
Alberta's provincial parks inspire people to discover, value, protect, and enjoy the natural world and the benefits it provides for current and future generations.
What are the enduring goals and outcomes?
| Goals |
Outcomes |
|
Enduring goal 1:
Parks are accessible and welcoming
|
- 1.1 Everyone can experience the provincial parks system in Alberta
- 1.2 Parks bring people and communities together
- 1.3 Parks have Indigenous history and provide opportunities for sharing culture, language, and stories
- 1.4 Parks offer unique opportunities and benefits to the visitor economy
|
|
Enduring goal 2:
Parks conserve and share Alberta's natural and cultural legacy
|
- 2.1 Parks conserve nature in-place to maintain biodiversity and ecological processes
- 2.2 Parks are resilient and responsive to environmental change
- 2.3 Parks enable collaboration with Indigenous communities and organizations to advance reconciliation and enhance conservation outcomes
- 2.4 Parks protect sensitive landscapes and cultural features through collaboration
|
|
Enduring goal 3:
Parks provide a diversity of nature-based experiences
|
- 3.1 Parks connect people to nature
- 3.2 Parks provide diverse recreational settings where activities can occur as not everyone chooses to recreate the same way
- 3.3 Park facilities and amenities enable safe and sustainable visitor experiences
|
|
Enduring goal 4:
Parks are effectively managed for long-term sustainability
|
- 4.1 Management of Alberta’s parks meets current and future needs
- 4.2 Parks visitation is managed with a dual mandate of conservation and recreation
- 4.3 Management of parks is evidence based and collaborative
- 4.4 Management of parks is clear and transparent
|
| Supporting actions: Each enduring goal and outcome have several supporting actions to achieve the vision of the parks system in Alberta. Supporting actions will be reviewed frequently and actions will be prioritized. |
What are the next steps?
The next steps of the Plan for Parks will be to implement the enduring goals, outcomes and supporting actions. The feedback we receive from Albertans and visitors will continue to influence the decisions we make. We will continue to work with local communities, Indigenous governments, parks partners, and others.
How was the Plan developed?
Alberta's Plan for Parks was developed through two phases of engagement with Indigenous communities and organizations, stakeholders and Albertans. The Plan for Parks was released on January 28, 2026. Please visit alberta.ca/PlanForParks to learn more.
What is the history of Alberta’s Plan for Parks?
- The first Plan for Parks was released in 2009 and was a 10-year blueprint guiding management of Alberta's parks.
- Alberta has evolved as a province since the first Plan for Parks was released in 2009, and so has the provincial parks system and the experiences that it provides for people.
- Alberta’s diverse population has increased over 35 per cent from 3.7 million in 2009 to 5.0 million in 2025.
- Growing population, modern pressures, and a desire to connect with nature or be active outdoors have grown parks’ visitation beyond what was originally imagined when the first provincial parks were established in 1932.
- This growth creates new pressures on the landscape, and addressing these pressures will help to ensure that the provincial parks system remains accessible to all Albertans as a public good.
- To meet increasing demands for recreation, accelerating and new environmental pressures, and a growing provincial population, the new Plan for Parks builds from direction originally set in the 2009 Plan for Parks.
