Rouge National Park
About the Project
Rouge Urban National Park is Canada’s newest park and first urban national park. As Parks Canada continues to work towards completing the establishment of Rouge National Urban Park, help was needed to research and identify spaces, places, venues and community and event calendars and platforms in the GTA where Parks Canada could focus their outreach, marketing and promotional activities. More specifically, Parks Canada was interested in reaching new, young and urban Canadians to visit Rouge National Urban Park.
The research for compiling the report was a four-phase process. The first phase used census data to identify primary locations with higher concentrations of target demographics. Findings show that most of Ontario’s young and new Canadians live in the City of Toronto and Peel Region, followed by York Region, Durham Region, and Halton Region.
The second phase used the demographic research to target specific neighbourhoods and list public spaces. These spaces were locations where brochures and posters could be placed to increase awareness of the park and its events. They were chosen based on their accessibility to young and new Canadians, such as schools, libraries, recreation and community centres, and new immigrant resource centres. One list was based on spaces within targeted wards and neighbourhoods, the second was based on spaces outside of targeted wards and neighbourhoods that could still be touch points for young and new Canadians.
The third phase compiled a list of online spaces for event promotion (such as online classifieds, event calendars, blogs, and communities) with some specifically targeted towards a younger audience.
Finally, a list of festivals and events was compiled based on their size, target audiences, and costs, and was further narrowed down to a Top 20 List of Festivals and Events recommended. A Top Five List of Must-have Tools and Techniques was compiled to emphasize the most important components of an effective and engaging booth. The key components were the use of visually stunning graphics, live knowledge sharing, gamification, social media promotions, and useful giveaway prizes.
This research conducted for Parks Canada brings a wide range of information into a useable, targeted communication plan for Rouge Urban National Park. By providing such insights, the study will help improve the way that Parks Canada does its outreach and will better target new and young Canadians.