History
The Ontario Parks system began its long and rough history in 1893 with the creation of Algonquin Park, originally designed to protect loggers' interests from settlement. The management and creation of provincial parks came under the Department of Lands and Forests in 1954 and led to a period of accelerated park creation: a ninefold increase in the number of parks over the next six years. In the 1970s the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources' (MNR) was formed. Currently, Ontario Parks does not have full agency status, but is a branch of the Natural Resource Management Division of the MNR.
The history of Ontario's provincial parks stretches for over 100 years. Here are some of the milestones from the past century plus:
1893 - Algonquin Park is created as a public park and forest reservation, fish and game preserve, health resort and pleasure ground.
1894 - Rondeau becomes Ontario's second provincial park.
1913 - The Parks Act sets aside land not suitable for agriculture or settlement.
1954 - Ontario still has only 8 provincial parks: Algonquin, Quetico, Long Point, Rondeau, Presqu'le, Ipperwash, Lake Superior and Sibley (now known as Sleeping Giant).
A Division of Parks is created within the Department of Lands and Forests. This heralds a new and aggressive program to create more parks, primarily on the Great Lake and northern tourism highways.
1960 - There are now 72 provincial parks in Ontario, hosting over 5 million visitors annually.
1967 - Ontario introduces a new policy that divides parks into specific categories, or classes, with compatible sets of uses.
1970 - Polar Bear, Ontario's largest provincial park at 24,000 square kilometres, is created.
1978 - Ontario Provincial Parks: Planning and Management Policies are approved by Cabinet giving Ontario one of the world's leading parks planning systems.
1983 - The new land use planning system leads to the announcement of 155 new parks to be designated.
1985 - There are now 220 parks in Ontario encompassing over 5.5 millions hectares of land.
1993 - Ontario celebrates the centennial of the provincial parks system and Algonquin's 100th anniversary.
1996 - The provincial parks system adopts a new entrepreneurial operating model where revenue generated by parks can be reinvested in the parks system. This is symbolized by a new name, Ontario Parks, and a new visual identity.
1996 - Ontario Parks partners with the Natural Conservancy of Canada to create Legacy 2000, a program to protect significant natural areas. Under this agreement more than 11,000 hectares are secured.
1999 - Ontario's Living Legacy is announced. This land use strategy identifies 378 new protected areas, including 61 new parks and 45 parks additions. Ontario's Living Legacy will protect over 2.4 million hectares of land, including additions to the provincial parks system of over 900,000 hectares.
2001 - Ontario now has a total of 280 provincial parks encompassing 7.1 million hectares or almost 9 percent of the province's area. Over 9 million visitors annually enjoy Ontario Parks.
2007 - Introduction of new legislation: "Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act" with 329 provincial parks and 292 conservation reserves.
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