Protected areas in Canada: decade of change PHILIP DEARDEN Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8N 3P5 (e-mail: pdearden@office.geog.uvic.ca) JESSICA DEMPSEY Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2 (e-mail: jdempsey@interchange.ubc.ca) The last decade has witnessed more changes in protected area systems in Canada than any other. The area set aside has more than doubled, and almost 7 percent of Canada’s ecosystems are now protected compared with 3 percent in 1989. Several high-profile reports have indicated a decline in ecological integrity of protected area systems. Major changes in legislation and policy have followed with a new National Parks Act, National Marine Conservation Areas Act, a Parks Canada Agency Act and a revised national park’s policy. The paper describes these major changes and their implications, provides understanding of why they occurred and suggests ongoing challenges facing protected area systems in Canada in the future. Introduction Banff was set aside as Canada’s first national park in 1885. Since that time, the amount of land in park systems in Canada has increased dramatically and new legislation and policies have been introduced. The last decade of the twentieth century, and up to 2002, has witnessed more changes than all from the preceding century. This article reviews these changes, provides some understanding of why they happened and identifies areas of ongoing challenge. The primary emphasis is on Parks Canada, although some attention is directed towards significant changes at the provincial level. The first part of the paper synthesises the main changes that have occurred. The second and third parts provide some explanation for these changes and prognostication for the future, respectively. Ladernie`rede´cennieate´moigne´plusde changements dessyste`mesd’ aires prote´ge´es au Canadaque tout autre.Les aires mises de coˆte´ont plus quedouble´etpresque 7pour cent d’e´cosyste`mes auCanadasontmaintenantprote´ge´scompare´sa`3 pour cent en 1989. Plusieurs rapports de haut-profil ontindique´lede´clindansl’inte´grite´e´cologiquedes syste`mesd’airesprote´ge´es.Deschangements importants de le´gislation et depolice ont e´te´mis en effet avec un nouvel Acte de Parcs Nationaux, un Acte des Re´gions Marines Nationales deConservation, un Acte d’Agence de Parcs Canadiens et un Acte National desParcs re´vise´.L’article de´critces changements principaux et leurs implications, explique pourquoi ils sesont produits etsugge`re les de´fis queles syste`mesd’ aires prote´ge´es auCanada rencontreront a`l’avenir. The Canadian Geographer / Le Ge ´ographe canadien 48, no 2 (2004) 225–239 ß / Canadian Association of Geographers / L’Association canadienne des ge ´ographes