The National Urban Parks Program
In contrast to other national parks, national urban parks will be owned and managed by a partnership of public, Indigenous, institutional, non-profit, and private landowners. The park boundaries and features described in our proposal should thus be considered as a starting point for future land ownership and management agreements, feasibility studies, technical investigations, and public consultations to be undertaken by Parks Canada and its partners.
More information about the National Urban Parks program can be found here:
The Process Ahead
Parks Canada has signed Statements of Collaboration to explore the creation of a national urban park in Winnipeg with three main partners: Treaty One Nation, the Manitoba Métis Federation, and the City of Winnipeg. The exploratory process began in earnest in 2024.
The citizen-led proposal presented here was led in parallel to these ongoing collaborations. Accordingly, this proposal does not reflect or imply any official position from Parks Canada or any of its partnering organizations. Nevertheless, we hope that our vision will prove compelling enough to rally us all around a common effort.
The NUP Objectives
The National Urban Parks program was created out of a desire to bring national parks closer to urban Canadians. Parks Canada’s National Urban Parks Draft Policy Framework identifies three Contribution Areas for national urban parks:
1) Conserving nature
2) Connecting people with nature, and
3) Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples
To these, we elected to add a fourth contribution area related to the unique opportunities arising from the national parks’ urban settings:
4) Support urban redevelopment policies and initiatives.
