PaRx and Parks Canada worked together to identify shared objectives around increasing access to nature and the connection between health, well-being and spending time in nature. This collaboration was formalized in a three-year partnering agreement, establishing that Adult Discovery Passes (valued at $72.25 a year) would be provided free of charge to PaRx to be prescribed by health-care professionals during the course of regular visits. The Parks Canada Adult Discovery Pass provides admission for one adult to over 80 Parks Canada administered places across Canada that typically charge a daily entrance fee for an entire year, including national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas. When prescribing Adult Discovery Passes to patients, health care providers are asked to prioritize those who live close to national parks, national historic sites, or national marine conservation areas, and who could benefit from it the most, such as those for whom cost of accessing nature may be a barrier.
- Parks Canada’s willingness to present and protect natural and cultural spaces for overall ecosystem health benefits and benefits to human health.
- Knowledge and capacity within the BC Parks Foundation to design and run a national health-care-provider-driven program.
- Parks Canada’s management of a well-established and trusted network of nationally managed cultural and natural spaces across Canada.
- Initial administrative challenges in issuing Parks Canada passes to prescribers are being overcome and streamlined through new practices and Customer Management Systems (CRM) to improve ease of access for prescribers and patients.
- Requirement for flexibility in issuing passes based on demand from prescribers. Originally 100 Adult Discovery Passes were offered as part of the program. When interest in the program ballooned after the launch of the collaboration, Parks Canada substantially increased its support in the form of additional Adult Discovery Passes, to approximately 1500 passes in the first year of the collaboration.