Program directory · Parks Canada

Visitor Experience and Services (National Historic Sites and Canals)

Department

Parks Canada

Program code

BGW13 (PCA)

Core responsibility

Protecting and Presenting Canada's Natural and Cultural Heritage

In Departmental Plans

2026-27 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan

What it does

The Visitor Experience and Services (National Historic Sites and Canals) program connects people with historically significant people, places, and stories that shaped Canada’s identity. Immersive, inclusive, and sustainable experiences at these sites foster engagement, learning, and well-being.

Visitor infrastructure, like heritage buildings, greenspaces and exhibits, is designed and maintained to be safe, accessible, and welcoming. A lifecycle approach balances affordability, public demand, and sustainability, guided by visitor strategies and their deep appreciation for access to these places. Planning and research focus on visitor needs, accessibility, managing flows, and integrating protection into experience design. Online tools, like reservation systems and real-time updates, support trip planning for diverse users.

Teams work with collections, refresh interpretive content, and adapt to evolving messaging and environments. Dialogue-based interpretation, guided and self-guided experiences, and interactive exhibits invite reflection on Canada’s evolving story. At canals, visitors engage with working heritage waterways, navigating locks and landscapes in a unique blend of exploration and history.

Experiences are increasingly co-developed or delivered by Indigenous partners, with growing inclusion of their languages, stories, and voices to support shared stewardship, deeper understanding of place, and cultural continuity on the land, waters, and ice.

Friends’ groups and partners enhance programming, support events, and animate sites with community spirit. Gift shops and goods offer visitors lasting, tangible connections. Visitor spending in communities during visits (e.g., on lodging, meals, souvenirs) provides economic benefits such as quality jobs in tourism, trades, and recreation across Canada.

These experiences foster curiosity, pride, and a sense of belonging, delivering lasting value by sharing Canada’s history with current and future generations.

Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.

History and lineage

First appears in the Departmental Plans in 2026-27. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).

Significant changes in scope and budget

Success criteria

The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.

Spending and employees: planned against actual

Spending

Employees (FTEs)

Planned spending, plan by plan

Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans

Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.