Under the second Trump Administration, the National Park Service (NPS) has experienced mass firings and budget issues, with many conservation advocates accusing the government of mismanaging public lands. The issue of how to conserve (and pay for) public lands isn’t just an issue in the U.S.; Canada is currently navigating similar funding challenges around its beloved national parks.
As visitation and tourism continue to rise, the country’s park system faces budget cuts and major layoffs.
The Cuts
In March 2025, Mark Carney—traditionally a center-left progressive—became prime minister of Canada. Soon after, he launched a comprehensive expenditure review. This government-wide program evaluated departments’ budgets to identify potential areas for cuts. The goal was to find “ambitious savings proposals to spend less on the day-to-day running of government by targeting programs and activities that are not core to their federal mandate, or not aligned with government priorities,” a government press release stated.
Government forecasts predict that Parks Canada’s total budget will shrink by more than a half-billion dollars by 2028/29.
Through this process, the government identified $145 million to cut from Parks Canada’s budget, spaced out over several years. And as part of those cuts, Parks Canada not only outlined a plan to eliminate 500 full-time jobs but also sent emails to nearly 3,000 employees, notifying them that their positions were at risk and encouraging them to seek other positions. That represents close to half of the agency’s total 5,997 employees who might be at risk.
The cuts included key safety and law enforcement programs, including the closure of 13 warden offices. These law enforcement officers serve as first responders to crimes, safety incidents, and emergencies in national parks. In lieu of localized officers, Parks Canada will institute a more regional system.
Another spending cut will come from Parks Canada’s search-and-rescue dog program, which has been around since the 1970s. Handlers and their highly trained dogs help locate avalanche victims, recover deceased individuals, and deter poaching in parks.
In a press release, Parks Canada said it will also meet those budget reduction targets by eliminating “non-core or underperforming programs and sites with low visitation” and increasing its use of digital tools.
The Response
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union that represents many federal workers, strongly objected to the cuts. “The impact is being felt in every corner of the country, from Banff to P.E.I. to the North. In small and northern communities, including Indigenous communities that live and work around these parks, losing even a few of these jobs is felt by everyone,” PSAC representative Alex Silas said in a statement to GearJunkie.
Silas also raised concerns that cutting wardens would put park visitors’ safety at risk. In 2023, Parks Canada completed a systematic evaluation of its law enforcement program and identified that while the program efficiently uses resources, it likely needs more of them.
“Available resources have not kept pace with the increasing needs of the program, stemming from the creation of new parks, additional legislation and increasing law enforcement expectations,” the report said. “Warden capacity was the primary area where respondents identified an opportunity for enhanced efficiency.”
In 2026, Banff National Park alone saw six deaths, a marked increase from prior years.
GearJunkie reached out to the Office of the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change, and Nature for comment.
“Parks Canada has been working to modernize how it delivers programs and services to ensure they provide the greatest value to Canadians while supporting long-term sustainability,” Press Secretary Amy Falkner said in an email to GJ. “Over the coming months, Parks Canada will implement organizational changes to align with available funding, modernize operations, strengthen field-based decision-making, and ensure it remains well positioned to deliver on our mandate into the future.”
The Context
Parks Canada manages 171 national historic sites, 48 national parks, six national marine conservation areas, and 111,197,422 acres of land. In 2022, the Canadian government signed the 30% by 2030 pledge, promising to preserve 30% of its land by the end of the decade. As part of these efforts, it plans to create 10 new national parks and is currently conducting feasibility and research studies for potential parks.
The budget cuts also come at a time when park tourism is exploding. In 2025, Banff National Park, arguably the country’s most famous park, set a new record for visitor numbers. The 4.5 million figure was a 7% jump from the previous year. The park has become so popular that many locals have raised concerns about the negative impacts of overtourism. In total, the country’s parks saw 25.6 million visitors last year, who directly contributed $5.9 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product.
The fate of the parks’ budget will likely come more into focus this week. On Thursday, Prime Minister Carney will release his next annual budget proposal.
