Parks Canada updating its reservation system to book camping and other activities

Parks Canada says visitors will be able to start booking reservations for camping and other activities at its sites across the country in March.

The reservation dates, which are posted online, are different at each national park, historic site and marine conservation area.

Parks Canada says in a statement that the bookings are a couple of months later than in recent years because the reservation system was getting outdated and needed some upgrades.

The agency says the system will look different from the previous one, but it will offer the same features and functions.

It adds, however, that anyone who wants to save information about previous bookings should do so before Feb. 26.

All users will be required to create a new user account on the upgraded system after March 3 and before they start booking any reservations later that month.

B.C. Parks bookings open now

Camping reservations for many of B.C.'s provincial parks are already open for the 2023 season.

Last year, the province revamped the online booking process, offering more flexible search options such as a map for searching campgrounds by region, park listing or site availability, information about facilities, and saved booking preferences for customer accounts.

There are more than 10,000 campsites in B.C. Of those managed by B.C. Parks, approximately half are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

B.C. Parks says more than 317,000 reservations were made last season on its updated online booking system, an increase of 26.5 per cent from 2019.

Starting this year, campers in B.C. can reserve sites up to four months ahead of their planned arrival date, as opposed to two months ahead previously.

Before the pandemic, people were able to reserve four months in advance.

Camping reservations for 2023 can be made on the B.C. Parks website.