Parks Canada offers non-mainstream accommodations
IAN STALKER
Photos © Parks Canada /Guy Thériault/DCBA/ Sophie Deschamps
Guy Theriault isn’t necessarily wowed when he hears of people talking about 5-star accommodations.
Indeed, the Parks Canada employee told attendees at Rendez-vous Canada 2023 in Quebec City in late May that he can easily one-up that.
“I can offer you a million-star accommodation in the Torngats,” he said of stays in Torngat Mountains National Park found in rugged northern Labrador, an area free of light pollution.
Parks Canada’s Torngat Base Camp and Research Station enables visitors to familiarize themselves with aspects of Inuit culture, and Inuit employees include ones who keep an eye out for wandering black and polar bears.
Daily park excursions and interpretative programming are available.
Theriault added that Parks Canada has many Indigenous experiences for those visiting its attractions.
Theriault added that those wanting to overnight in the massive Cape Breton Island fortress of Louisbourg — built by the French centuries ago — can sleep in tents as French soldiers once did or stay in barracks.
“We’ve got all kinds of accommodations for our clients,” Theriault continued, adding that Parks Canada offers “450,000 square kilometers of memories, stories and experiences” from “coast to coast to coast.”
Parks Canada’s mandate includes overseeing some 37 national parks and 10 national park reserves and around 171 historic sites. More urban parks are being planned.
Theriault added that his employer offers “four seasons of experiences,” with those visiting national parks during winter offered the likes of nordic skiing and fat-bike mountain bike excursions.
He added that Parks Canada “has been dealing with sustainable tourism forever,” adding that park visitors are able to participate in the likes of helping clean a coastal area in Prince Edward Island, thereby “giving back while coming to visit… We’re the caretakers of 450,000 square kilometers and we keep growing.”
Meanwhile, Theriault noted that next year will see British Columbia’s Mount Revelstoke National mark its 110th anniversary.
