KANANASKIS COUNTRY – A new draft plan for the management of provincial parks calls for regular review of fees across the board to ensure they remain sustainable and don’t prevent Albertans from accessing and enjoying the great outdoors.
With that in mind, Banff-Kananaskis MLA Sarah Elmeligi said she hopes this recommendation in the draft Plan for Parks also means a review of the Kananaskis Conservation Pass, which generates about $12 million in revenue a year for provincial coffers.
“It says that the fee structure will be reviewed to make sure that parks are accessible for everyone, so does that mean that we can look forward to a review of the Kananaskis Conservation Pass because that would be great,” said Elmeligi, who is also shadow minister for Environment and Protected Areas.
“We know that the Kananaskis pass does increase the cost of people’s ability to enjoy Kananaskis, and that combined with increased costs of camping and gas and food and all of that kind of stuff, suddenly a weekend family camping trip in Kananaskis can turn into a very expensive proposition.”
A pass is required for all vehicles parking at provincial parks and public land sites in Kananaskis Country and the Bow Valley Corridor and the pass is enforced.
A day pass is $15, which registers one vehicle, and an annual pass is $90, which registers up to three vehicles. Commercial rates are higher.
Other charges for provincial parks include camping fees, as well as water, electrical and sewer hook-ups, showers if not coin-operated, firewood, horse corrals, sewage disposal and onsite pump-out services.
Fees are also applied to various interpretative and education programs.
Tracy Draper, executive director of strategic planning and capital development with the Parks Division of Alberta Forestry and Parks, said one of the outcomes of the provincial park systems is for Albertans to have access to nature.
“The fee review is really about how do we make sure that we’re offering something that is accessible from a financial perspective to the most Albertans possible, while still making sure that we have revenue streams that can help us deliver the projects,” she said.
“It’s finding that balance between financial accessibility and revenue.”
Draper said she didn’t know if that section in the draft plan meant the Kananaskis Conservation Pass would be up for review.
“I don’t know if that would be in scope or not,” she said. “We would have to take direction from our minister on that.”
Still, Elmeligi said she feels quite strongly that the Kananaskis Conservation Pass is not the most effective way to collect user fees.
“It is not equitably applied across user groups or income levels of Albertans, and that it makes Kananaskis less affordable,” she said.
Neil Singh, press secretary to Alberta Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen, said the Kananaskis Conservation Pass has generated approximately $12 million in revenue each year since the program began in 2021.
He said revenues are reinvested in Kananaskis Country and support conservation and environmental education initiatives, trail maintenance, mountain rescue and dispatch, recreation planning and administration and facility operations.
“Details on revenue from the 2024-25 fiscal year will soon be available when the ministry’s annual report is released,” said Singh in an email.
The Plan for Parks is a 10-year blueprint for guiding management of Alberta’s parks system.
The deadline for people to share their views on the plan via a survey is July 26. The survey can be found here: https://your.alberta.ca/p4p-2/surveys/public.
Estimated number of visitors to Kananaskis Country
- 2015: 3,597,678
- 2016: 3,706,633
- 2017: 3,733,772
- 2018: 3,793,782
- 2019: 4,103,965
- 2020: 5,394,168
- 2021: 5.2 million
- 2022: 4.2 million
- 2023: 4.7 million
- 2024: 4.9 million
