--- title: Canada's National Parks: Amazing Historical Photos description: Canada's national parks system had its official birthday 105 years ago, on May 19, 1911 canonical: https://time.com/4337101/canada-national-parks-history/ author: Merrill Fabry article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-19T15:00:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:29.482Z article:section: History og:title: Canada's National Parks: Amazing Historical Photos og:description: Canada's national parks system had its official birthday 105 years ago, on May 19, 1911 og:url: https://time.com/4337101/canada-national-parks-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba83f6d79fb0b783/698893482dce0132129e915c/160516-canadian-parks-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Waterton Lakes National Park og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Canada's National Parks: Amazing Historical Photos twitter:description: Canada's national parks system had its official birthday 105 years ago, on May 19, 1911 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba83f6d79fb0b783/698893482dce0132129e915c/160516-canadian-parks-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Historical Photographs From Canada's Stunning National Parks > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Merrill Fabry](https://time.com/author/merrill-fabry/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) May 19, 2016 3:00 PM UTC  A rider on horseback in Waterton Lakes National Park, British Columbia circa 1930. A rider on horseback in Waterton Lakes National Park, British Columbia circa 1930. W. J. Oliver—Fox Photos/Getty Images by [Merrill Fabry](https://time.com/author/merrill-fabry/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) May 19, 2016 3:00 PM UTC The U.S. may be home to the [oldest national park—](http://time.com/3907099/yellowstone-first-national-park/)Yellowstone [became](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/history.htm) the world’s first in 1872—but Canada can lay claim to the oldest national parks _system_ in the world. The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act received royal assent 105 years ago on May 19, 1911, marking the beginning of Canada’s new setup, while the U.S. National Parks System was only created five years later, in 1916\. The act created a new Dominion Parks Branch—now known as Parks Canada—that began its operation the same year, overseeing a handful of parks with a budget of $200,000 and [seven employees](http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/pages/13%5Fcanadas%5Fnational%5Fparks.aspx). As in the U.S., the first land reserved for parks had predated centralized administration. Banff National Park got its start when land was set aside in 1885, and two years later the [Rocky Mountains Parks Act](http://parkscanadahistory.com/publications/rocky-mountains-park-act.htm) made it Canada’s first national park. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) Though the conservation movement was gaining ground at the time, the creation of the Dominion Parks Branch was more about what historian Claire Campbell has [called](http://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781552385265) a “minor bureaucratic shuffle” than about any grand goals for preserving nature. Administration of the existing parks had been [transferred](http://parkscanadahistory.com/publications/history/lothian/eng/vol2/chap4.htm) to the Forestry superintendent in 1908, but the number of people making use of the parks was increasing such that they needed their own governance. The new centralized management could do just that—though the act didn’t give much in the way of specific instructions. (The head of the new parks system, James B. Harkin, admitted he knew nothing of parks, and wrote to the U.S. Department of Interior for advice, as [described](https://books.google.com/books?id=YpjhCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT51&lpg=PT51&dq=us+national+parks+system+created+1916+canada+created+1911&source=bl&ots=kh8YxtBBk8&sig=K6ThR-v7gA7qML3MZMDEh0G5v7U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiT2%5FW1--HMAhWLcD4KHYkkD98Q6AEINzAE#v=onepage&q=harkin&f=false) by historian Alan MacEachern.) In fact, political discussions of the 1911 act [focused](http://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781552385265) on the timber in the forest reserves more than the parks themselves. It [allowed](http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection%5F2012/pc/R62-418-2011.pdf) loggers and miners to continue operations within the parks, and even recreational usage—which would lure tourists and their money—was intended to be more along the lines of hunting and fishing than gazing out at the surroundings in awe. “National parks were not imagined as a way of preserving nature from people,” Campbell writes, rather “reserving nature for the people’s use.” Nevertheless, as these photos show, there was plenty to gaze at. Since then Parks Canada has expanded significantly: it now [oversees](http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/docs/pc/plans/rpp/rpp2016-17/index.aspx) 46 national parks, plus more than 150 national historic sites.  Lake Louise, a glacial lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Circa 1930. Fox Photos—Getty Images  A freight train moves through the mountains of the President Range, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada, 1951\. Photo taken during the National Film Board of Canada's production of 'Yoho: Wonder Valley,' a panorama of Rocky Mountain scenery, with the vacation lures of Yoho National Park displayed in ever-changing color. National Film Board of Canada/Getty Images  Canadian Pacific Railway station at Glacier, a railway whistlestop and locality near the summit of the Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park, British Columbia, Canada, 1958. NFB/Getty Images  A rider on horseback in Waterton Lakes National Park, British Columbia circa 1930. W. J. Oliver—Fox Photos/Getty Images  Thousand Islands national park bridge and area, Ontario, 1939. Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star—Getty Images  Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, 1902. Universal History Archive/UIG—Getty Images  Pelee Island or Point Pelee, Ontario, Canada, 1932. Toronto Star/Getty Images  Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada. Circa 1920. Universal History Archive/UIG—Getty Images  Pointe au Baril in the Georgian Bay National Park, Ontario. Circa 1937. Alexandra Studios/Toronto Star—Getty Images  Highlands national park on Cape Breton Island, 1947. Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star—Getty Images  A camper in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, 1971. 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