Canada Strong Pass boosts visits to parks, museums but adds community congestion
Global News
The Canada Strong Pass led to a boost in visitations to national parks and museums during summer 2024, but some communities have expressed concerns of traffic congestion.
The federal government’s Canada Strong Pass has been renewed for another summer, and while numbers show it has been a benefit for parks and museums, some communities say the boost has led to congestion.
The pass was announced this past spring as a move to increase tourism while also picking up on Canadians’ apparent frustration over “51st state” rhetoric and tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Numbers released to Global News indicate the pass has been effective, with national museums and parks both seeing an increase in visits compared to 2024.
For example, the National Gallery of Canada reported Monday it saw 21,802 children, youth and young adults take advantage of the program, marking an 11 per cent increase in the under-24 demographic, with overall attendance increasing 3.95 per cent.
The museum noted the pass was available for all visitors, not just Canadian residents, so the data represents total attendance as a whole.
Parks Canada said in an email to Global News that between June 20 and Sept. 2, sites administered by the agency saw a 13 per cent increase in visitation during the Canada Strong Pass, with 14.45 million visitors estimated.
Nationally, Parks Canada said, national historic sites saw about a 20 per cent increase, while national park visits rose by nine per cent.
These increased visits did come with their own issues, however.
Conservation officers in B.C. say they've captured four more grizzly bears that are being tested to determine if they were involved in an attack on a school group last month.
Joshua Wright says a yellow cedar tree he photographed last year was "incredible," the largest he'd ever seen in a decade of hiking around Vancouver Island.
Canadians could face grocery bills up to $1,000 higher in 2026 as food prices rise 4-6 per cent, with restaurants and meat seeing the biggest jumps.
Despite a growing homelessness problem in the South Okanagan city, council voted 4-2 against the project and the millions of provincial dollars that would come along with it.
Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon told a House of Commons committee the updated strategy will come next year, after saying in the fall it would come this year.
Reports emerged this week of U.S. government procurement plans to order 20 Senator vehicles for its ICE officers, a move worth roughly $10 million.
The 16-year-old was arrested in April after police said a credible threat was made against students at Citadel High School.
A committee meeting also heard an extra $194 million is needed to pay for carbon price fuel charges that the provincial government didn't collect.
The premier of Nova Scotia is calling for an investigation into how a major power utility has handled a cyberattack.
Toronto's fire chief says work on extinguishing a fire at two highrise buildings will continue 'into next week,' meaning those evacuated won't be returning home yet.
The outbreak of salmonella linked to pistachio and pistachio-containing products continues with more than 150 confirmed illnesses now reported.
The 50-unit tiny home community would have been built on a city-owned parcel of land near Dartmouth Road and Dartmouth Drive and funded by the provincial government.
The steel giant announced Monday it would lay off roughly 1,000 workers as a Sault Ste. Marie plant closure is being made to adapt to a “fundamentally altered” landscape.