Metis Government providing custom passes for free entry into Alberta National Parks and historic sites

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

(ANNews) – The Otipemisiwak Metis Government (OMG) has renewed its five-year agreement with Parks Canada to provide its citizens with free access to national parks and historic sites within Alberta. 

This time, the OMG is using a custom-designed park pass featuring original art designed by Alberta Metis artist Krista Leddy, with beadwork from Maddison Post, Morgan Johnson, Elena Mercuri, and Sarah Olsen. 

“It’s a beautiful new hang tag that they can put in their vehicle and have proudly in their vehicle when they go through the parks and the historic sites,” OMG president Andrea Sandmaier told Alberta Native News. 

The pass will provide them with free entry into Banff, Elk Island, Jasper and Waterton Lakes national parks, as well as Banff Park Museum, Bar-U Ranch, Carve and Basin, and Rocky Mountain House national historic sites. 

Sandmaier noted the “deep ancestral connection Metis people have to the lands and waters within Alberta’s national parks and historic sites,” citing the forced displacement of Metis communities to create Jasper National Park in the early 20th century. 

“That was a very difficult time for our people, so this is part of reconciliation. This [agreement] is Parks Canada’s work that they’re doing so that we can access our homeland, including the national parks,” she said. 

The free passes are part of the federal government’s Indigenous Peoples Open Doors Program, which was launched in 2014. 

The original agreement with the OMG (then known as the Metis Nation of Alberta) was signed in 2018. It was updated in 2021 as a five-year agreement, with passes valid until the agreement expired, and has been renewed for the same duration. 

Under a similar bilateral agreement signed in 2020 with the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF), the Canadian government provides free access for MMF citizens to the Lower Fort Garry and Riel House national historic sites. This agreement expanded in 2021 to include entry into Riding Mountain National Park. 

Metis Nation – Saskatchewan signed an agreement with Parks Canada under the program in 2020 to provide its citizens with complimentary access to Grasslands and Prince Albert national parks, as well as the Batoche, Fort Walsh, Motherwell Homestead and Fort Battleford national historic sites. It was renewed in March 2026.

Last year, Qalipou First Nation in Newfoundland joined the Open Doors Program to provide its members with free access to Gros Morne and Terra Nova national parks, and the L’Anse aux Meadows, Cape Spear Lighthouse, Castle Hill, Hawthorne Cottage, Port au Choix, Ryan Premises and Signal Hill historic sites.

OMG citizens aged 16 and over can apply for a park pass beginning April 1 on the OMG website. 

Those without internet access can call 780-455-2200 to receive an application by postal mail, or pick up a pass in person at the OMG provincial head office in north central Edmonton. 

OMG citizens who don’t obtain a park pass can still enter national parks in Alberta for free by showing their citizenship card.