Though summer may feel light years away amid bracing January winds and icy temps, Parks Canada and Ontario Parks recently opened their summer jobs portals, reminding students and youths to get ahead of the curve on securing summer employment.
With a wide range of positions available across the country, outdoorsy-oriented applicants have the exciting opportunity to spend the summer months working in some of the country’s most beautiful and historic settings—while making up to $30 an hour, we might add.
Parks Canada offers over 3,000 positions to students and individuals aged 15 to 30 across 450,000 square kilometres of national parks, historic sites, marine conservation areas, and urban parks.
Potential positions range from Coastal Steward for the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve in B.C. to Visitor Experience staff at Banff National Park in Alberta to Lock Operations staff at various Trent-Severn Waterway lock and bridge stations in Ontario cottage country.
“I loved working for Parks Canada. It was the best summer job I could ask for. I got to call a beautiful national park home. I met students from all over Canada who loved the outdoors just like me,” says one student worker review on the Canada Parks website. “I got amazing experience organizing and executing a project in my field. And at the end of the day, I felt proud that I could say that I work for one of the few organizations that are making a positive difference in the world.”
New jobs are added every week, but applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so applicants are encouraged to apply well in advance of the March 1, 2025, deadline. In terms of pay, student positions offer between $16.84 and $24 per hour, while some entry-level seasonal roles may pay up to $30 per hour.
For those based in Ontario, Ontario Parks offers summer jobs to 1,600 secondary and post-secondary students across more than 340 provincial parks.
“Ontario Parks protects ecologically important spaces throughout Ontario—from the shores of Lake Erie up to the boreal forests of Northern Ontario,” says the careers website. “It takes lots of people working together to preserve these spaces while welcoming visitors from Ontario and beyond.”
Current job postings include Gate Attendant, Maintenance Worker, and Discovery Ranger at your choice of up to five provincial parks per application. For Ontario Parks jobs, pay ranges from $17.20 to $18.05 per hour with most positions calling for 36.25 to 40 hours a week.
Applications will be reviewed between February and May 2025, but similar to Parks Canada, hiring is ongoing until all positions are filled, so the earlier the better.
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