An announcement by the Government of Saskatchewan was held at McNab Regional Park in Watson, as dignitaries gathered to speak on the $1 million investment into regional parks across the province (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

$1 million investment

Government of Saskatchewan investing in Regional Parks

Jul 27, 2025 | 8:00 AM

Regional Parks across the province can now access funding to create new seasonal campsites, courtesy of the Government of Saskatchewan.

The provincial government was at McNab Regional Park in Watson, Friday morning, to announce a $1 million investment into Saskatchewan Regional Parks.

“Investing in regional parks is investing in the people of Saskatchewan. You look at the beauty and the opportunities for physical and mental health, and for communities and families, and it’s just a good investment to have. It also helps our communities promote tourism, and it helps their economy as well, so it’s just a good investment,” explained Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Alana Ross.

“The investment is for creating more sites for campers to come to, so we really encourage the parks that are ready to go and do these expansions and improvements, to please apply for the grant.”

The Saskatchewan Regional Parks Association (SRPA) will run the new program and distribute the grants to successful projects.

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Applications for up to 200 qualifying campsites will be accepted in 2025, with up to $5,000 per campsite available.

“[The availability of this grant], it’s absolutely huge. When regional parks are alone in the world, and there’s not much for cash flow, if you can get $5,000 per camp spot, it is a huge bonus, and camping is what makes you a little bit of extra cash. For us, if we could get 17 extra campsites, it would be amazing… especially because for the last three years we’ve been completely full,” added McNab Regional Park Manager, Kim Mitchell.

“It was great [to be able to host this particular announcement], we’ve had a lot of work done on this in previous years, we have a whole campsite map and everything figured out, and we are shovel-ready. It was also great that they chose us because we are a very small community, and we’re a very small park when it comes to regional parks, and because we love to showcase the beauty that we have within our park.”

Almost 80 accredited regional parks are eligible for funding, with the initiative also expected to support dozens of local construction and maintenance jobs.

According to the SPRA, regional parks hosted around 250,000 visitors last year.

Regional parks can apply for funding as of today (July 25) and will be able to do so until late September.

Parks must submit photos, budgets, and final reports to receive the full grant.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8