Parks Canada is implementing a daily admission fee for all visitors to Georgian Bay Islands National Park in addition to other visitor fees including camping, roofed accommodations, the DayTripper, and mooring.
The daily admission fee will be due upon arrival. For day visitors, campers, and those staying in roofed accommodations in the Cedar Spring Campground, daily admission fees can be paid at the Parks Canada kiosk at Honey Harbor or at the Visitor Centre on Beausoleil Island. Please note that the daily admission fee will not be collected online when reserving the DayTripper, campsites, or roofed accommodations.
Boaters mooring at Tobey Dock, by the Cedar Spring Campground, can pay their mooring and daily admission fees at the Visitor Centre on Beausoleil Island. For boaters docking at outlying sites and backcountry campers, self-registration and payment forms will include daily admission fee options. These forms are available at the self-registration deposit boxes at each location.
The daily admission fee for Georgian Bay Islands National Park is $6.50 for adults, $5.50 for seniors, or $13.50 for groups/families. Admission to all Parks Canada administered places remains free for youth 17 and under. Repeat visitors or visitors who are staying for longer periods of time, may find it more economical to purchase an annual admission pass for Georgian Bay Islands National Park, or the Parks Canada Discovery Pass. For a full list of pricing visit parks.canada.ca/gbi.
Parks Canada is funded through a combination of annual budget appropriations and service fees. Visitor fees do not exceed the costs of delivering the service to visitors; they only recover a portion of the costs. Fees are re-invested in the same places where they are collected to support operations. Specifically, the revenue is reinvested in operations and programs such as:
- Visitor safety
- Maintenance of visitor facilities and infrastructure like trails, parking lots, visitor centres, washrooms, and waste collection
- On-site signage, maps, interpretive panels and exhibits
- Salary expenses for providing orientation, guided tours and heritage presentation programs
The collection of an admission fee at Georgian Bay Islands National Park is consistent with the approved admission fee structure for Parks Canada. The decision to apply an admission fee to all visitors will increase the sustainability of the visitor experience offer at Georgian Bay Islands National Park and better position Parks Canada to continue to maintain this level of service.
