The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) has renewed a three-year contribution agreement with Parks Canada to enhance and grow Indigenous experiences across the country.

Call them what you like — outhouses, pit privies, vault toilets, washrooms, bathrooms or just plain old public toilets. When you spend the year touring Parks Canada's national historic sites and national parks for stories — like I just did — you'll need to use the facilities on a regular basis. And by facilities, I don't mean the "facilitrees" when you're desparate and have to go in the great outdoors, and I don't mean the cush indoor ones with flush toilets found in heated/air-conditioned visitor centers. I mean the standalone ones that aren't always as clean and fragant as you'd like and where you consider yourself lucky if there's a good supply of toilet paper and sanitizer.

The 2023 Minister’s Round Table on Parks Canada is slated to run in January and February so that all Canadians can weigh in on how the federal agency is doing and discuss the future of national heritage places.

Canada has pledged to join the Bonn Challenge, a global initiative aimed at bringing 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes under restoration by 2030.