The capital budget for Canada's national parks and historic sites is being slashed by more than two-thirds this year even as more than 30 per cent of the agency's assets remain in poor or very poor condition.
Parks Canada is also coming off a second year of lost revenues thanks to COVID-19's effect on visitor numbers.
"The agency is developing a long-term plan for the management and sustainability of its infrastructure," he said. Guilbeault said last week the number in fair or good is now up to 69 per cent. That leaves 31 per cent in a poor or very poor state. The 2018 report, done by a New Zealand consultant company, suggested Parks Canada needed to invest $9.5 billion to repair its assets, and also needed between $1.6 billion and $3.3 billion to ready its parks and sites to withstand the increased rainwater, flooding, fires and other damage expected due to climate change.
In 2019, post-tropical storm Dorian destroyed 80 per cent of the trees in Cavendish Campground in Prince Edward Island National Park, and eroded two to four metres of its coastline. The same storm damaged 97 km of background trails in Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site in Nova Scotia.
Attendance bounced back last year, but is still well below pre-pandemic levels at 21.5 million total visitors.
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