Nature 101

Don’t know how to camp or fish? There’s a course (and app) for that. New initiatives are designed to introduce new and young Canadians to nature and lure them to the country’s parks, Don Butler writes.

LEARN TO CAMP PROGRAMS

Ontario was the first to start a program to teach neophytes camping basics, but many other park services, including Parks Canada, have since followed suit.

“It’s been wildly popular,” says Sheila Wiebe, a natural heritage education specialist with Ontario Parks. “We started with only three parks offering the program and now we’re up to nine.” In Eastern Ontario, the learn to camp program is offered at Murphys Point Provincial Park, near Perth. Participants in the weekend overnight sessions, many from visible minority communities, are supplied with camping equipment. They’re shown how to set up their tent and cook in the outdoors, then freed to explore the park. The next day, they learn how to take their tent down and pack up and store gear.

“It’s a confidence-building thing,” says Wiebe. “They’re learning from a park ranger.” It seems to be working; many who take the program become regular campers.

Parks Canada’s program operates in national parks and at national historic sites. Like Ontario’s program, it’s an overnight camping experience, but is typically offered only once a summer at each location. Between 75 and 100 people usually attend. “It’s really camping 101,” says Parks Canada official Ellen Bertrand.

The agency also offers a free learn to camp app for iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices that provides tips, advice and information on planning your first camping trip. ontarioparks.com/ learntocamp

LEARN TO FISH PROGRAM

Offered by Ontario Parks, the two-hour program offered at six provincial parks teaches wannabe fishers how to identify and handle fish, rig and cast a fishing rod and introduces them to fishing rules, regulations and safety. It includes about one hour of fishing time, with equipment and promotional fishing licences provided. ontarioparks.com/ learntocamp/learntofish

PARKBUS

Founded in 2010, Parkbus provides express bus service from Toronto to key provincial and national parks in Ontario and to Algonquin Park from Ottawa. For the first time this year, it’s also offering day trips to half a dozen parks closer to Toronto and partnering with local operators to offer all-inclusive camping packages. Customers are mostly young and, especially on routes from Toronto, frequently from minority communities. “Our demographic would probably be close to the true demographic of Toronto,” says Parkbus cofounder Boris Issaev.

Issaev, whose family moved to Canada when he was 12, was inspired to create Parkbus by his own immigrant experience.

His family lived in Toronto and had no car, so he didn't visit his first provincial park until he got his driver's licence at 18. “I realized, 'Wow, Ontario's so cool and there are so many things you can do here,'" he says. www.parkbus.ca

COMFORTABLE CAMPING

The prospect of camping in a tent doesn't appeal to everyone, especially if the weather turns nasty. Newcomers and older Canadians may be likelier to visit a park if their accommodation is more comfortable.

At eight of its national parks, Parks Canada offers oTENTic tents — prospectorstyle canvas tents on wooden platforms — that approximate a camping experience. Beds and kitchen equipment are provided. “All you have to bring is a sleeping bag and some clothes and your food,” Bertrand says.

Last year, Parks Canada launched “equipped campsites” for people who want a real camping experience but either don't own or don't wish to transport their own tents and equipment. Equipped campsites are available in eight national parks.

At some provincial parks in Ontario, yurts are another option. The round tent-like structures sit on wooden platforms and have windows to let in natural light. Ontario currently has 74 yurts in 10 provincial parks. It's also testing camp cabins and other types of soft-sided shelters.

Gatineau Park also features yurts in some of its campgrounds for overnight stays. www.pc.gc.ca

MULTILINGUAL INFO

Over the past year, Parks Canada has translated information about camping and interactions with wildlife into five languages and made it available on its website. Languages include Punjabi, Tagalog, Spanish and traditional and simplified Chinese.

“The uptake on this information is fantastic,” Bertrand says. “It's information on what to do if you encounter a black bear, if you encounter a grizzly bear. We're making that safety information much more accessible to more Canadians.”

CULTURAL ACCESS PASS

In 2011, Parks Canada become the first national partner in the Cultural Access Pass program, an initiative of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. The pass gives new Canadian citizens and up to four of their dependent children free admission to more than 100 national parks and historic sites for one year from the date they are sworn in as citizens. www.icc-icc.ca/en

NATURE AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

An initiative of Alberta Parks, Nature as a Second Language removes language barriers, introduces new Canadians to outdoor recreation and provincial parks and includes a multilingual guidebook. albertaparks.ca

PLEIN AIR INTERCULTUREL

Founded in 2010 by Ottawa native Adrienne Blattel, the program — run by the Association Récréative MiltonPark in Montreal — takes about 500 immigrants a year into nature for activities ranging from hiking and skiing to kayaking and canoe camping.

The winter activities are the most popular. “People have told me it's totally transformed their experience of winter,” says Blattel.

The response has been very positive, she says. “Being outside in nature together is a really natural way for people to connect across cultures.” miltonpark.org