Rouge National Urban Park will protect nature, culture and – for the first time in a Canadian federal park – agriculture. Celebrating more than 200 years of agricultural history in the Rouge Valley will be an important element of Canada’s first national urban park – and involving the farming community and other partners that have expertise in these areas will therefore be essential to the success of the future park.

The transfer of Transport Canada’s lands announced today is the first as a result of land transfer agreements Parks Canada signed with landowners for the creation of Rouge National Urban Park. These lands account for 38 percent of the proposed national urban park that will span the cities of Toronto, Markham and Pickering.

Parks Canada continues to work with all of its partners to ensure the timely transfer of lands while respecting the required due diligence and environmental assessment work required for each parcel of land to be transferred. This includes the Province of Ontario (13.5 percent); the Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority (45.3 percent); and the cities of Toronto (0.7 percent); Markham (2.3 percent) and Pickering (0.2 percent). The Regional Municipalities of York and Durham are also signatories to these agreements.

Parks Canada is unequivocally living up to the terms and conditions of all its signed agreements.

Parks Canada is an experienced land manager and landlord, and holds leases with thousands of individuals and businesses in national parks and national historic sites across Canada. The management of approximately 190 leases on these lands – residential, agricultural, commercial and utility – will now be assumed by Parks Canada.

A recognized global leader in conservation and ecological restoration, Parks Canada is the world’s first national parks service and manages 44 national parks, 167 national historic sites and four national marine conservation areas across Canada.

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News Release associated with this Backgrounder.

Source:: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=957539&tp=930