Our Mission / Our Organization/ Contact Addresses / Our History / Site Guide

Our Mission
GOAL:
To ensure that Ontario's provincial parks protect significant natural, cultural, and recreational environments, while providing ample opportunities for visitors to participate in recreational activities.
OBJECTIVES:
Protection:
To protect provincially significant elements of the natural and cultural landscape of Ontario.
Recreation:
To provide outdoor recreation opportunities ranging from high-intensity day-use to low-intensity wilderness experiences.
Heritage Appreciation:
To provide opportunities for exploration and appreciation of the outdoor natural and cultural heritage of Ontario.
Tourism:
To provide Ontario's residents and out-of-province visitors with opportunities to discover and experience the distinctive regions of the province.
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Our Organization
Ontario Parks is a branch within the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

Office of the Managing Director: Adair Ireland-Smith, Managing Director, oversees parks administration, planning, management and operation.

Ontario Parks Board of Directors: The Board provides advice to the Minister of Natural Resources about the management of Ontario Parks. It is chaired by Ron Vrancart and consists of 6 to 12 members in addition to the Chair.

Planning and Research Section: Responsible for resource planning and management, including inventories, system and management planning, and socio-economic and natural resource research.

Operations and Development Section: Responsible for park management and development, including visitor services, enforcement, public health, land administration and design, engineering, and development.

Marketing and Communications Section: Responsible for all aspects of marketing, including market research, promotional programs, creative services, merchandising, fund raising, website development, and partnership programs.

Species at Risk Section: The Species at Risk Section is responsible for provincial coordination in the development of a species at risk strategy, communication projects, regulations, policies and guidelines, recovery plans, partnership agreements and field projects across Ontario.

Park Zones: Responsible for operating provincial parks and for field delivery of other programs such as promotion or marketing.

Park Zone Addresses

Our History

The history of Ontario's provincial parks stretches for over 100 years. Here are some of the milestones from the past century plus.

1893 - Algonquin Park is created as "a public park and forest reservation, fish and game preserve, health resort and pleasure ground."

1894 - Rondeau becomes Ontario's second provincial park.

1913 - The Parks Act sets aside land not suitable for agriculture or settlement.

1954 - Ontario still has only 8 provincial parks: Algonquin, Quetico, Long Point, Rondeau, Presqu'ile, Ipperwash, Lake Superior and Sibley (now known as Sleeping Giant).
A Division of Parks is created within the Department of Lands and Forests. This heralds a new and aggressive program to create more parks, primarily on the Great Lake and northern tourism highways.

1960 - There are now 72 provincial parks in Ontario, hosting over 5 million visitors annually.

1967 - Ontario introduces a new policy that divides parks into specific categories, or classes, with compatible sets of uses.

1970 - Polar Bear, Ontario's largest provincial park at 24,000 square kilometres, is created.

1978 - Ontario Provincial Parks: Planning and Management Policies are approved by Cabinet giving Ontario one of the world's leading parks planning systems.

1983 - The new land use planning system leads to the announcement of 155 new parks to be designated.

1985 - There are now 220 parks in Ontario encompassing over 5.5 millions hectares of land.

1993 - Ontario celebrates the centennial of the provincial parks system and Algonquin's 100th anniversary.

1996 - The provincial parks system adopts a new entrepreneurial operating model where revenue generated by parks can be reinvested in the parks system. This is symbolized by a new name - Ontario Parks - and a new visual identity.

1996 - Ontario Parks partners with the Natural Conservancy of Canada to create Legacy 2000, a program to protect significant natural areas. Under this agreement more than 11,000 hectares are secured.

1999 - Ontario's Living Legacy is announced. This land use strategy identifies 378 new protected areas, including 61 new parks and 45 parks additions. Ontario's Living Legacy will protect over 2.4 million hectares of land, including additions to the provincial parks system of over 900,000 hectares.

2001 - Ontario now has a total of 280 provincial parks encompassing 7.1 million hectares or almost 9% of the province's area. Over 9 million visitors annually enjoy Ontario Parks.

2007 - Introduction of new legislation: "Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act" with 329 provincial parks and 292 conservation reserves.

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Site Guide

Barrier Free Access - Information on Barrier Free Access for persons with disabilities can be found on individual park information pages. Navigate to your favourite park, and select the Barrier Free Access wheelchair icon. You will find information regarding a variety of barrier free services including showers, flush toilets, campsites and trails.

Campground Maps - Campsite maps are now available electronically. Navigate to the park of your choice and click on the "maps" button at the bottom of the page. Please note that these maps are static images and are not linked to the online reservation service, therefore all campsites are represented as available (green). You must go into the reservation system to see whether these sites are available for your chosen time period.

Park Zine - Ontario Parks now has a new online magazine. Articles are posted here on a regular basis. We cover interesting topics in sections such as Lifestyle, Seasonal, Science, and Events. We also point you to a featured park and link you to the latest news at Ontario Parks. If you have missed an article, just check the archive for all articles published in the last year.

Look and Feel - You now have use of the "Web Trail". The trail (a series of footprints and icons) lets you take a step back or two steps back through the site, as well as providing useful links back to the home page, our site map and our search page. We have also included all your main choices at the top of every page so you can move freely throughout the site. On each operating park's main page you will notice icons indicating the facilities and activities available at that park. Click on these icons to go directly to the page containing that information. We have also included more photos in the look and feel of the website to give you a better look at what Ontario Parks has to offer.

Roofed Accommodations - Found under the "Accommodations" heading you will find everything you need to know about roofed accommodations in Ontario Parks. We have a large range of roofed accommodations for you to enjoy, from yurts, and rustic cabins right up to lodges and heritage homes. You will also find helpful information on car camping and backcountry camping in the accommodations section.