Carney Renews Free Parks Plan for 2026, Banff Locals Fear Crowds

When Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the return of the Canada Strong Pass on Friday, it sounded like another win for affordability. Families will once again get free or discounted entry to national parks, museums, and galleries, along with reduced VIA Rail fares.

For millions of Canadians, the program means cheaper travel and a chance to explore. For many in the Bow Valley, it means something else entirely: another summer of gridlock, overflowing parking lots, and record-setting visitation.

“See More of Our Great Country for Less”

Carney unveiled the renewed pass as part of his upcoming 2025 federal budget. It was one of three new affordability measures, alongside automatic federal benefits for low-income Canadians and a permanent National School Food Program.

“We live in a magnificent country, and Canadians want to see more of it,” Carney said. “The pass gives families a chance to experience Canada’s nature, creativity, and history for less.”

The Prime Minister said the government will renew the Canada Strong Pass for the summer of 2026 and expand it for the 2025 holiday season starting in mid-December. That means free or discounted travel during one of the most expensive times of the year, allowing families to visit loved ones, galleries, and parks across the country.

He described it as a way to “help Canadians see more of our great country” while encouraging cultural connection and economic activity. The government reported that the first rollout this summer led to a 13 percent increase in VIA Rail ridership and a 15 percent jump in visits to national parks and museums.

What the Pass Includes

While Ottawa’s official website has yet to update the dates, the structure of the Canada Strong Pass remains the same. There is no physical or digital pass to buy or register for. Visitors simply show up at participating sites and benefit from the discounts.

Key features include:

• Free entry to all national parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas administered by Parks Canada.

• 25 percent discounts on federal campsites and roofed accommodations.

• Free admission for youth 17 and under and half-price tickets for ages 18–24 at national museums and galleries.

• Free VIA Rail travel for children under 17 when accompanied by an adult, plus 25 percent off for young adults.

In practice, that means a family from Calgary can drive into Banff National Park without paying the usual $23 daily fee and explore Parks Canada attractions for free.

Local Reaction: “Free = Chaos”

The news lands differently in the Bow Valley, where free entry has already proven to be a double-edged sword.

When Carney’s government first rolled out the Canada Strong Pass earlier this year, Bow Valley Insider readers overwhelmingly rejected the idea. In a spring poll of 514 locals, 80 percent opposed the policy. In a follow-up poll, 85 percent supported a two-tiered system that would charge tourists while giving discounts to Canadian residents.

Their reasons were blunt and often emotional.

“The town infrastructure isn’t able to handle it,” one reader wrote. “The land is tired.”

“Free sounds nice, but there are real costs to maintain our parks,” said another. “Maybe reduced fees for Canadians only. No free or fee reductions for non-citizens.”

Others argued that removing entry fees devalues the parks entirely.

“When something doesn’t cost anything, it’s taken for granted and abused,” one comment read. “Those fees help keep the parks clean and staffed.”

Even Banff’s mayor, Corrie DiManno, warned in May that the town was already “full of vehicles” and still waiting for federal and provincial help on regional transit from Calgary.

Banff’s Take: Winter Welcome, Summer Worries

Following Friday’s announcement, Mayor DiManno struck a more optimistic tone about the short-term implications.

“We are pleased to learn that the Canada Strong Pass is coming back for the holiday season,” she said. “Making it more affordable to visit Canada’s first national park will benefit all Canadians. At the same time, this is a welcome incentive to encourage visitation to Banff out of peak summer season.”

DiManno added that winter offers breathing room. “There is no traffic congestion in the winter months and we have so many activities and beautiful vistas to enjoy. This is an exceptional opportunity for avid skiers to visit the three ski resorts in the park, and we are especially eager to welcome new Canadians to discover a range of winter activities,” she said.

More winter visitors, she explained, could help balance Banff’s seasonal economy and maintain stable employment. “More people coming in the winter months helps level out our local economy, which helps us retain a workforce year-round.”

Still, she acknowledged that summer will be another story.

“We have not received all the details about the Canada Strong Pass coming back next summer, and we hope we can work with the Parks Canada Agency to see how implementing the free access can be structured to incentivize travel at times of the week or times of the day that are less busy in the park,” DiManno said.

“We also hope that the Canada Strong Pass doesn’t mean a cut to the budgets of Parks Canada, which provides vital services to visitors and works to maintain the ecological integrity and environmental resilience of this amazing national park.”

While officials say traffic counts did increase this summer, they cannot directly attribute the rise to the Strong Pass.

“Our anecdotal observations of traffic data show an increase in traffic coming to the Town this year. We cannot attribute this to the Canada Strong Pass,” the statement read. “What we know is that it likely had more of an incentive impact on regional day visitors than people traveling farther distances and staying overnight.”

The Town added that the earlier timing of the 2026 announcement will almost certainly change the dynamic. “We expect the announcement now for free access to the national park will have an incentive on some international and other Canadian travellers, on top of regional visitors. The Town is looking to the federal government for assistance in dealing with the anticipated increase in travellers and the impact on traffic congestion.”

A Regional View

Banff-Kananaskis MLA Sarah Elmeligi says the Canada Strong Pass should be seen through a wider lens.

“Banff is just one national park in the system, and a pretty unique one at that,” she told Bow Valley Insider. “This pass is about so much more than Banff.”

Elmeligi said the data from this summer will be critical in assessing its impact. “We don’t yet have the data from the summer to know how much visitation to Banff increased with the Canada Strong Pass, but that would be great information to have to understand the impact of this decision.”

She added that strategic tourism planning will be essential moving forward. “We need to plan tourism strategically and have visitor use management plans in all of our Bow Valley parks, including provincial parks, to better understand how to ensure a high-quality visitor experience, protect the wilderness that people come to enjoy, and ensure local community residents have a voice in tourism planning.”

A Global Contrast

The timing of Carney’s announcement stands out internationally. While Canada is expanding free access, other countries are doing the opposite.

The United States recently increased park fees for foreign visitors under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, aiming to fund conservation and address staffing shortages. Japan introduced crowd controls on Mount Fuji and higher prices for tourists to protect fragile landscapes.

Canada’s approach reverses that trend. The Strong Pass applies to everyone, including international tourists. That means the same free access for visitors from Germany or Texas as for families from Edmonton.

It’s an approach that earned Canada global goodwill but domestic skepticism. As one Bow Valley Insider reader put it bluntly:

“Canadians pay taxes to maintain the parks and pay again to use them. Tourists pay once. Locals pay twice.”

The Big Picture

Carney framed the program as part of his “Building Canada Strong” agenda, positioning the pass alongside new affordability and inclusion measures. The government argues that the pass promotes national unity, cultural access, and economic opportunity.

He said the renewal reflects “a country that’s more united, generous, and ambitious,” and one that’s “ready to build what’s right.”

Still, Parks Canada sites in Banff, Jasper, and Yoho already face what officials call “visitor saturation” in peak season. Free access may encourage even more demand on trails, transit, and housing in gateway towns like Banff and Canmore.

What Comes Next

The Carney government says the Strong Pass will be active again for the 2025 holiday season and summer 2026, with full details expected in the upcoming federal budget.

Locally, Banff and Canmore officials have not yet commented. Bow Valley Insider has reached out to both municipalities for their reaction to the renewed program and how they plan to handle another influx of visitors.

For now, it appears the debate that began last spring will continue into next summer.

As one resident summed it up:

“We love sharing our backyard. But someone still has to clean it up when everyone leaves.”

Note: The Government of Canada has not yet updated its official Canada Strong Pass webpage with new 2026 dates. However, the structure and benefits are expected to remain the same as 2025’s summer’s program.