Edmonton”s NATIONAL URBAN PARK

In the summer of 2021, the Federal Government announced its intention to create new National Urban Parks across the country and in the spring of 2022, Parks Canada and the City of Edmonton announced a partnership to explore creating a National Urban Park here in Edmonton. ERVCC supports a River Valley National Urban Park and participated in a stakeholder group discussing what this park could look like. So far Canada has one National Urban Park already: Rouge National Urban Park outside Toronto. For more background on this initiative, see CPAWS’ Northern Alberta’s description here, and Parks Canada’s press release here. Timelines and more of Edmonton’s plans can be found here.

View the executive director of CPAWs Northern Alberta in this CBC interview

National Urban Parks need a bit of Myth Busting. Edmonton’s Park would still remain under Edmonton’s control. Fees would not be charged as with National Parks like Elk Island. What we do get is funding, notoriety, and help to achieve many benefits.

Urban Parks have many benefits for Canadians, such as…

• Protecting and conserving wildlife habitat

• Connecting people with nature

• Improving mental and physical health 

• Supporting reconciliation

• Mitigating climate change and extreme weather

• Offering opportunities for nature and cultural education

Another reason to support a National Urban Park is that biodiversity frameworks call for all levels of government to work together to achieve our collective biodiversity goals as called for by the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity.