Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to discuss the contribution of Parks Canada's national marine conservation areas program to marine and coastal protections in Canada.
National marine conservation areas, or NMCAs, are one of several of Parks Canada's protected area programs focused on the conservation, management and visitor use of nationally significant examples of lands, waters and ice. We're a coastal nation, and Canadians take great pride in these natural environments.
NMCAs specifically play a vital role in conserving biodiversity and culturally significant places. In addition to supporting sustainable fisheries and industry, they create opportunities for tourism and recreation and bring economic diversity through new investment and economic activity to coastal communities. They allow Canadians to connect with oceans and places that are cornerstones of this country.
Parks Canada’s sites help diversify and invest in the economy of rural, northern and urban communities by creating approximately 40,000 jobs across Canada. The 24 million visitors to these places spend approximately $4.5 billion annually in surrounding communities—as an example, visitors to Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park brought approximately $125 million to the Province of Quebec in 2023.
NMCAs are designed and managed based on input from partners and stakeholders to ensure these ecological and economic benefits materialize. As my colleague from DFO mentioned, we recognize the need to learn from past experiences and input from stakeholders in order to ensure that our consultation processes are robust and that those who make their livelihoods from the oceans are involved early and often throughout the process. We will be continuing to work to improve our processes.
While oil, gas, mineral and aggregate exploration is prohibited throughout the totality of an NMCA, an NMCA is not a no-take zone or closed area. Many activities, such as commercial and recreational fisheries, marine transportation, tourism and recreation, can continue in NMCAs.
Parks Canada has listened attentively to the witnesses who have presented to this committee, as well as through all of the stakeholder engagements undertaken to date. We aim to continuously improve upon our processes by listening to and acting upon the input we have heard. We've heard that marine conservation remains an important objective for all and that we all must work better together to achieve it.
As Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area and Haida Heritage Site and Tallurutiup Imanga clearly demonstrate, by bringing various perspectives together early and consistently, we can and have designed NMCAs that balance conservation with socio-economic interests. Working in this way takes time, but it is the right and only way to proceed.
NMCAs are about ensuring a future in which healthy oceans create the conditions for both thriving ecosystems and vibrant indigenous and coastal communities. That future is only possible when all partners sit at the table, shape the vision and help turn it into reality, and that is our intention moving forward.
I look forward to your questions. Thank you.