The Government of Saskatchewan has announced a new $1 million investment aimed at expanding seasonal camping capacity across the province’s regional parks.
According to an article by paNOW, unveiled Friday morning at McNab Regional Park in Watson, the funding will support the creation of new seasonal campsites through a grant program administered by the Saskatchewan Regional Parks Association (SRPA).
“Investing in regional parks is investing in the people of Saskatchewan. You look at the beauty and the opportunities for physical and mental health, and for communities and families, and it’s just a good investment to have,” said Alana Ross, Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport.
“It also helps our communities promote tourism, and it helps their economy as well, so it’s just a good investment,” Alana added.
The grant program will offer up to $5,000 per campsite for up to 200 qualifying projects in 2025.
Applications opened on July 25 and will be accepted until late September. To receive full funding, parks must submit photos, budgets, and final reports documenting their completed work.
“The investment is for creating more sites for campers to come to, so we really encourage the parks that are ready to go and do these expansions and improvements, to please apply for the grant,” Ross added.
Kim Mitchell, manager of McNab Regional Park, described the funding as a potential game-changer for smaller parks struggling with capacity.
“[The availability of this grant], it’s absolutely huge. When regional parks are alone in the world, and there’s not much for cash flow, if you can get $5,000 per camp spot, it is a huge bonus, and camping is what makes you a little bit of extra cash,” she said.
“For us, if we could get 17 extra campsites, it would be amazing… especially because for the last three years we’ve been completely full,” Kim added.
McNab Regional Park, which hosted Friday’s announcement, is among the smaller accredited parks in the province but is ready to expand.
“It was great [to be able to host this particular announcement], we’ve had a lot of work done on this in previous years, we have a whole campsite map and everything figured out, and we are shovel-ready,” Mitchell said.
“It was also great that they chose us because we are a very small community, and we’re a very small park when it comes to regional parks, and because we love to showcase the beauty that we have within our park,” Mitchell added.
Nearly 80 accredited regional parks across Saskatchewan are eligible for the funding. In addition to boosting recreational access, the initiative is expected to support local economies through construction and maintenance jobs.
According to the SRPA, regional parks welcomed approximately 250,000 visitors in the past year, underscoring their importance to outdoor recreation and rural tourism in the province.