Visit Canada’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Canadian Rockies
UPDATED: This post, originally posted on July 1, 2017, has been updated on July 19, 2020.)
Canada is now 150 years old. We might be a young country, but as a destination, we have many offerings for tourists. With ten provinces and three territories extending from coast-to-coast-to-coast, covering a vast 9.98 million sq. kms, Canada is the world’s second-largest country by total area.
What you might not know is that Canada has many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. UNSCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – recognizes world heritage sites that are of significant cultural or natural value. And we have plenty of them. Here is a list – so time to pack your bags and hit the road and see these amazing sites:
Canada’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites
1. Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, B.C. and Alberta: includes Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks; and provincial parks Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine and Hamber.
SGang Gwaay (credit: Grizzly01en)
2. SGang Gwaay, British Columbia: 19th-century Haida village.
3. Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta: located in the ‘badlands’ of Alberta where important fossils were discovered from the ‘Age of Reptiles,’ especially 35 species of dinosaur, dating back 75 million years.
4. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Alberta: marked trails, an aboriginal camp and buffalo skeletons are what remain of a 6,000 year-old hunting custom.
5. Waterton Glacier International Peace Park, Alberta: the word’s first international peace park, with stunning scenery.
Rideau Canal (credit: John Talbot)
6. Rideau Canal, Ontario: a slackwater canal from Kingston to Ottawa, originally built for strategic military purposes.
7. Historic District of Old Québec, Quebec: a fortified colonial city founded in the early 17th century by French explorer, Champlain.
8. Miguasha National Park, Quebec: on the southern coast of the Gaspé peninsula.
9. Landscape of Grand Pré, Nova Scotia: marshland and archaeological site of the first European settlers in North America.
10. Old Town Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: British colonial settlement.
11. Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia: the “coal age Galápagos.”
12. L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, Newfoundland: remains of an 11th-century Viking settlement.
Gros Morne National Park (credit: jcmurphy)
13. Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador: spectacular scenery displaying some of the world’s best examples of the process of plate tectonics.
14. Red Bay Basque Whaling Station, Labrador: archaeological testimony of a pre-industrial whaling station.
15. Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek, Yukon Territory, BC (and Alaska): Spectacular parks, contains the largest non-polar icefield in the world.
16. Mistaken Point, Newfoundland: rugged coastal cliffs that stretch 17 kms.
17. Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories: one of the most spectacular wild rivers in North America, plus deep canyons, waterfalls, and a limestone cave system.
18. Wood Buffalo National Park, Northwest Territories and Alberta: home to North America’s largest population of wild bison.
UPDATE (July 19, 2020):
On July 20, 2020, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Canadian Geoparks Network announced that the Cliffs of Fundy, in Nova Scotia, and Discovery, in Newfoundland and Labrador, have been designated UNESCO Global Geoparks. Geoparks are sites recognized by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, for their exceptional geological heritage. Being designated a Geopark means having the ability to mobilize local stakeholders to preserve unique geological sites and educate visitors about them. Geoparks also play a leading role in fostering high quality, sustainable tourism and contributing to the vitality of local economies (source: Canadian Commission for UNESCO news releease).
Canada. What’s not to love?
If you have visited any of these sites, I would love to hear what your favourite spot is. Tweet to me at @Shannon_Skinner or leave a comment below.
Love xo
Shannon
Shannon Skinner is an award-winning television and radio show host/producer, international speaker, author and travel writer. For more information, visit: ExtraordinaryWomenTV.com and ShannonSkinner.com. Tweet to her at @Shannon_Skinner.
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Source: compiled from UNESCO World Heritage List.
Photo credit: Rockies – popejon2, Paddington, Australia (via Wikimedia Commons)
