There are currently 334 regulated provincial parks in Ontario totaling over 8,000,000 hectares or 7.6% of the province's land base.
Provincial Parks
Quick Fact
For information on specific provincial parks, visit OntarioParks.com
(excerpt from the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserve Act, 2006)
Objectives: provincial parks
The following are the objectives in establishing and managing provincial parks:
- To permanently protect representative ecosystems, biodiversity and provincially significant elements of Ontario's natural and cultural heritage and to manage these areas to ensure that ecological integrity is maintained.
- To provide opportunities for ecologically sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities and encourage associated economic benefits.
- To provide opportunities for residents of Ontario and visitors to increase their knowledge and appreciation of Ontario's natural and cultural heritage.
- To facilitate scientific research and to provide points of reference to support monitoring of ecological change on the broader landscape. 2006, c. 12, s. 2 (1).
Provincial Park Classes
There are six (6) classes of provincial parks in Ontario; each class has specific purposes and permitted uses. Some classes have been assigned targets for representation, size and distribution throughout the province. These uses and targets are set to ensure that the people of Ontario can benefit from and enjoy the important features of provincial parks now and for generations to come.
The park classes are:
Cultural Heritage
The objectives for cultural heritage class parks are to protect elements of Ontario’s distinctive cultural heritage in open space settings for their intrinsic value and to support interpretation, education and research. There are six cultural heritage class parks in Ontario.
Targets for cultural heritage class parks are defined by an archeological and history based classification. Cultural heritage parks are selected to represent cultural features and themes not found in other park classes. Research and inventory is needed to determine the future needs for this component of the provincial park system.
Natural Environment
The objectives of natural environment class parks are to protect outstanding recreational landscapes, representative ecosystems and provincially significant elements of Ontario’s natural and cultural heritage and to provide high quality recreational and educational experiences.
The target for natural environment class parks is to establish, a minimum of, one 2000 hectare park, or an equivalent sized wilderness zone, in each of Ontario’s 71 ecodistricts.
Nature Reserve
The objectives of nature reserve class parks are to protect representative ecosystems and provincially significant elements of Ontario’s natural heritage, including distinctive natural habitats and landforms, for their intrinsic value, to support scientific research and to maintain biodiversity.
Targets for nature reserve class parks are defined by science based earth science and life science criteria. Nature reserves are selected to represent natural features and ecosystems not found in the other park classes.
Recreation
The objective of recreation class parks is to provide a wide variety of ecologically compatible outdoor recreation opportunities in attractive natural surroundings.
The target for recreation class parks is to provide residents and out of province visitors with appropriate levels of day use and facility-based camping opportunities (the selection and operation of recreational parks and the provision of outdoor recreation opportunities is related to regional population distribution and demands).
Waterway
The objectives of waterway class parks are to protect recreational water routes and representative and significant terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and associated natural and cultural features; as well as to provide high quality recreational and educational experiences.
The target for waterway class parks is to establish one waterway park, or an equivalent waterway corridor, traversing each of Ontario’s 71 ecodistricts. Waterway class park target achievement is high in the north and low in the southern regions of the province.
Wilderness
The objective of wilderness class parks is to protect large areas where the forces of nature can exist freely and visitors can travel by non-mechanized means, except as may be permitted by regulation, while engaging in low-impact recreation to experience solitude, challenge and integration with nature.
The target for wilderness class parks is to establish one wilderness class park and one complementary wilderness zone in each of Ontario’s 14 ecoregions. Wilderness class parks should exceed 100,000 hectares, while zones should be greater than 2000 hectares in size. Due to extensive incompatible use, true wilderness can no longer be found in the province’s two southernmost ecoregions.
For more information on park class targets, check out the
State of Ontario's Protected Areas Report - Chapter 2
