We were already expecting a bumper domestic summer as Canadians cancel trips to the US in droves, looking to support local attractions and destinations. All of that has now been turbocharged with an exciting government initiate to strengthen Canadian identity and unity.
The Canada Strong Pass, is a federal initiative to encourage domestic tourism and cultural engagement across Canada. Available in summer 2025, it offers free access for kids (age 17 and under) to national galleries and museums, free VIA Rail travel for under-18 travellers when accompanied by a parent or guardian, and heavily discounted fares of up to 50% off for young adults aged 18–24. Great for the kids, but everyone gets free admission to all National Parks and Historic Sites across Canada from June through August, along with reduced camping fees. The temporary pass, which does not require any registration, is open to all Canadian citizens, along with permanent residents, international students, temporary foreign workers, and tourists present in Canada over the summer. Just show up at national parks or participating sites (including all ten national museums) to enjoy the free admission or discounts, and you can use it as many times as you like.
So… where should you go? With the tireless efforts of Parks Canada (and perhaps with a little help from The Great Canadian Bucket List), you can’t really go wrong.
In Western Canada: Consider the rugged coastline of Pacific Rim National Park, where the endless Pacific crashes against sea stacks and sandy beaches with a primal force that makes you feel wonderfully insignificant. The trails wind through temperate rainforest so lush it seems almost prehistoric, with fallen logs carpeted in emerald moss and the cent of cedar and salt in the air. In Yoho National Park, the Takakkaw Falls thunders down 373 meters of sheer rock face with such power that it creates its own weather system. The glacial lakes reflect snow-capped peaks, with endless outdoor adventure opportunities. The prairie suddenly gives way to dramatic peaks that rise directly from the shoreline of Waterton Lakes National Park. The park sits perfectly balanced between two worlds—where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains in a collision of ecosystems that creates some of the most diverse wildlife viewing in Canada. Elk Island National Park offers an entirely different but equally fantastic experience, where you’ll find yourself face-to-face with massive plains bison. It’s the only place on the planet where you can witness these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat, roaming free across the rolling parkland.
In the Prairies: The silence in Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park is so complete it feels like standing inside a cathedral made of sky. This is the prairie as it existed for thousands of years—rolling hills covered in native grasses that whisper secrets in languages older than memory, where burrowing owls peek from underground cities and where the night sky blazes with stars unfiltered by human light. In the heart of Manitoba, Riding Mountain National Park rises from the surrounding farmland like a green island of wilderness. Hike through boreal forest so thick with aspen and birch that it’s hard to believe you’re still in the prairies. The park is a remarkable oasis with three distinct ecosystems, boreal forest, eastern deciduous woodland, and fescue grassland, resulting in a biological crossroads that supports everything from black bears to hundreds of bird species that migrate along their routes overhead.
In Central Canada: If you’re travelling with the kids, use the opportunity to visit the fantastic national museums in Ottawa. Navigate a maze of granite islands through the crystal-clear waters of the St. Lawrence River in Thousand Islands National Park. Each island tells its own story—from tiny rocky outcrops crowned with a single windswept pine to larger havens where wealthy industrialists built their summer dreams in stone and timber. In Quebec’s Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park, the fresh waters of the Saguenay River meet the salt waters of the St. Lawrence, creating a marine ecosystem so rich with krill and small fish that it draws whales from across the Atlantic. The fjord walls rise dramatically on either side, their ancient granite faces carved by glaciers into a cathedral of stone where peregrine falcons nest.
In Atlantic Canada: Witness one of the planet’s most dramatic natural phenomena in Bay of Fundy National Park, as forty-foot tides drain the ocean floor like someone pulled a cosmic bathtub plug, revealing a moonscape of red mudflats, ancient fossils, and tidal pools teeming with life that exists nowhere else on Earth. In Prince Edward Island National Park, rolling dunes covered in marram grass give way to beaches so pristine they squeak beneath your feet, and the warm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence lap against copper-coloured shores. Winding along the Cabot Trail through Cape Breton Highlands National Park, navigate one of the world’s most spectacular coastal drives, where hairpin turns reveal a gorgeous vista of rugged cliffs plunging into the Atlantic, and where the Highland plateau stretches away like a piece of Scotland that somehow drifted across the ocean and decided to stay.
In Northern Canada: In Kluane National Park and Reserve, discover the largest non-polar icefield on Earth. Glaciers flow like frozen rivers between the peaks. This is the land of the midnight sun and the aurora borealis. Not many people get the fortunate opportunity to visit Wapusk National Park, known for having the greatest concentration of polar bear dens in the world. In summer, the park is accessible via helicopter for guided tundra hiking and wildlife spotting, and visitors can also explore the tundra for birdwatching. Flying into Ivvavik National Park in a Twin Otter aircraft, I stood on a gravel strip at the edge of the world, where the Brooks Range mountains rise like ancient sentinels above the most remote wilderness left on the continent, and where the Firth River carves through valleys that have remained unchanged since the last ice age. You can read my full report about Ivvavik National Park at my Canadian Geographic column.
Have a wonderful, safe and inspired Canadian Bucket List summer!
