Parks Canada Agency is responsible for the management and administration of 46 national parks, one national urban park, four national marine conservation areas and 171 national historic sites, including nine historic canals and welcomes over 20 million visitors each year.
Parks Canada places are located in virtually all parts of the country including urban, rural, and remote areas and in a vast array of terrestrial and marine environments. The landscape and climate vary greatly from one Parks Canada place to another. While access to some Parks Canada places is as simple as a short drive from a major urban city, other sites require a much greater effort to visit.
Parks Canada’s existing accessibility policy framework required a comprehensive review and analysis in order to fully understand the policy gaps that need to be addressed to ensure that its parks and sites continue to meet the needs of present and future generations.
Parks Canada acquired GAATES’ expert services to assess Parks Canada’s current accessibility policy framework and complete a gap analysis of Parks Canada’s accessibility policy framework, providing a final report which includes the findings of the analysis.
The report provided a clear understanding of:
- where guidance in existing prescriptive documents is missing;
- what guidance in existing prescriptive documents is outdated or incomplete; and
- what guidance in existing prescriptive documents already exists and is effective and relevant in this day and age
Furthermore, where gaps were identified, the report included a menu of existing prescriptive documents from similar organizations around the world that Parks Canada may be inspired or guided by to fill the gaps.
