Jennifer Bain will be overseeing Canadian parks coverage for National Parks Traveler.

National Parks Traveler is expanding its regular parks coverage north of the border and getting its first Canadian editor. Jennifer Bain, an award-winning journalist and author, takes on the new position beginning January 1.

She will be writing weekly about the 47 national parks, five national marine conservation areas, one national urban park, and 171 national historic sites (including canals and waterways) that are under the care of Parks Canada. Bain also will be working with freelance writers and photographers in Canada to develop feature coverage of the country’s parks for the Traveler.

“I can’t wait to shine a light on all of the people, projects, issues, events and stories that are happening in our national parks,” said Bain. “There isn’t anything like National Parks Traveler here and it’s going to be a wonderful challenge to devote myself to this worthy beat.”

As a travel writer, Bain has journeyed to some of Canada’s remotest parks, including Ivvavik National Park in the Yukon near the Alaska border, and Torngat Mountains National Park in Newfoundland and Labrador. She has houseboated down the Rideau Canal National Historic Site and camped in places like Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park and Ontario’s Georgian Bay Islands National Park. She lives in Toronto, close to Rouge National Urban Park.

“I’m a completist,” said Bain, “and so it will be my mission to slowly visit all of our parks, marine conservation areas, and national historic sites and unearth all of their stories.”

Bain has spent most of her career working at newspapers. She has a Bachelor of Journalism and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction, has written two cookbooks and a Calgary travel book, and has won dozens of writing awards. She worked at the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper, for 18 years, first as food editor and then as travel editor, before leaving to pursue a freelance career and write books.

“(Jennifer) is a true ambassador for the great outdoors, the natural and cultural environments as well as the long-lasting traditions that have been passed down for generations,” Guy Thériault, Parks Canada’s senior marketing specialist for travel media, said via email. “The tremendous positive visibility that she has generated for Parks Canada via her stories in various outlets demonstrates her professionalism and dedication, and our team looks forward to continuing our successful collaboration with Jennifer in her new role with National Parks Traveler.”

The Traveler launched in 2005 and is the United States’ top, editorially independent website dedicated to coverage of national parks and protected areas. The non-profit media organization has a global reach with more than 3 million readers and listeners a year. Traveler also produces a weekly podcast that is ranked among the top 3 percent of the world’s 1.9 million podcasts, according to ListenNotes.com. The show also is the top-rated U.S. parks podcast, according to Feedspot.com.

“Our long-term vision has always been to expand our regular coverage to parks across the world, and Jennifer will help us take the first step by overseeing parks coverage in Canada,” said Traveler founder and Editor-in-Chief Kurt Repanshek. “Canada and the U.S. not only share the world’s longest undefended border, but the two countries made national park history in 1932 when Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States formed the first International Peace Park.

“We’re excited to bring our global readership more in-depth news and feature coverage from Canada’s incredible and unique collection of parks,” added Repanshek.