{"id":18061,"date":"2025-02-24T22:51:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T22:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/google-maps-users-say-canadas-provincial-parks-are-being-labelled-as-state-parks\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T22:51:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T22:51:53","slug":"google-maps-users-say-canadas-provincial-parks-are-being-labelled-as-state-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/24\/google-maps-users-say-canadas-provincial-parks-are-being-labelled-as-state-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Maps users say Canada\u2019s provincial parks are being labelled as \u2018state parks\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Google Maps users have noticed and started documenting the way parks are being labeled in B.C. and Canada.<\/p>\n

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Screenshots provided to Global News show B.C. provincial parks are identified as \u201cstate parks.\u201d<\/p>\n

TikTok user Samantha Gietema documented the change after one of her friends posted about it on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to go look for myself on Google Maps, and sure enough, a bunch of the provincial parks had been changed to state parks, and when I went to edit to suggest an edit, I had noticed that the provincial park category had been completely removed from Google entirely,\u201d she told Global News.<\/p>\n

She thought it was a glitch but then noticed dozens of people asking the same question in the Google Maps Help Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally don\u2019t know exactly when it started, but I\u2019m seeing posts dated back as far as only a couple of days ago, so it seems like it\u2019s quite recent,\u201d Gietema said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s something that people have recently noticed, and with what had gone on with Google Maps intentionally mislabeling the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, I can\u2019t help but wonder if there\u2019s something like that going on in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

State parks<\/a> in America are protected areas of land that also fall under the name of state forests, national parks, landmarks, national grasslands and more.<\/p>\n

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Parks Canada is responsible for protecting and managing the country\u2019s 37 national parks and 11 national park reserves.<\/p>\n

Provincial governments protect and manage parks in their province and territorial parks are maintained by Northwest Territories Parks.<\/p>\n

Tamara Davidson, B.C.\u2019s minister of Environment and Parks, told Global News in a statement that BC Parks is aware \u201cof the recent concern around the label of \u2018state park\u2019 on Google Business listings for provincial parks in B.C.\u201d<\/p>\n

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While some users pointed out that provincial parks can no longer be labelled as such, Davidson said it is their understanding that \u2018state park\u2019 has always been the default Google setting.<\/p>\n