That's on parks and also historic sites, as you've reminded me.
I was very excited that as part of my mandate letter and as part of budget 2016 we announced free access to national parks for our 150th birthday. I could not think of a better way to celebrate the beauty of Canada than through free access.
I think you raise an important point for some parks. As you say, some mountain parks already have a large number of visitors. We have some parks that see fewer than 100 people a year, so there's certainly a huge variety in parks.
I was in Banff National Park, where I made a really exciting announcement about support for infrastructure there. We had a discussion about this. I think it's important to have discussions about how we maintain the ecological integrity of our parks, which is paramount, as you say, while at the same time getting more people out to our parks to enjoy them, not just because they're free, but to see them and then make a lifelong commitment to coming to our parks.
We are having discussions, particularly with parks where they already see a high volume of visitors, to look at how we can ensure this. Maybe we can promote it so that people come at different times or go to different areas. Also, overall, how do we ensure that we maintain the ecological integrity of our parks?
I think that is absolutely manageable, and I think it is a really exciting opportunity for our country. What I'm also focused on is looking at what programs we can expand, and what are the new programs, the new opportunities for Canadians who do not see our national parks. For lower-income Canadians or new immigrants, how do we make parks more accessible to them?
I think it is really important that parks aren't just for people who can afford to get to parks or who are used to canoe-tripping or building campfires. There are a lot of Canadians who have never had the opportunity to go to a park, and it's a bit daunting for them. We're expanding our Learn to Camp program. We have a number of other programs that we're promoting to get disadvantaged Canadians and new Canadians to parks.
I'm also excited to be able to talk about two other programs. Starting in 2018, we will have free access to national parks for Canadian youth, children 18 and under, and new Canadians in the first year in which they get citizenship.
These are great initiatives, but they're not everything. We need to be thinking about how we get people there. How do we facilitate transportation there? How do we facilitate camp experiences?