Parks Canada is mandated to "protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations".

[3] Parks Canada cooperatively manages a large majority of their protected areas and heritage sites with Indigenous partners.

[4][5] The Canadian Register of Historic Places is supported and managed by the agency, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments and other federal bodies.

The minister of environment and climate change (Steven Guilbeault since 2021) is responsible for the agency, and it is managed by its chief executive officer (Ron Hallman since 2019).

In May 2012, it was reported that Park Wardens may be cross designated to enforce certain wildlife acts administered by Environment Canada.

[13] According to the Panel on Ecological Integrity Report in 2000[14], "the idea of conserving nature unimpaired has been part of national parks’ legal mandate since 1930".

As can be seen through the evolution of the term, ecological integrity is deeply rooted in notions of symbiosis, sustainability, and holistic management practices.

For example, "[ecological integrity] has a high degree of linguistic elasticity and should there ever be a legal challenge to its use, there are no precise and clear definitions for it[17]".

This law put additional onus on Parks Canada Agency to implement a robust science-based conservation and monitoring program.

With these changes, Parks Canada formally began monitoring for ecological integrity in 2008 and is ongoing to date.

These modifications are consistent with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada’s observations in the 2005 report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.

Lastly, the incorporation of an Iceberg Model for EI Indicator[25] provides a more holistic approach, fostering increasingly complete results.