Meet Parks Canada's new reservation system, from the same makers as the old system
CBC
The "new platform" for online campsite reservations that Parks Canada plans to launch next month is actually based on software from the same company it had issues with several years ago, when the booking system crashed and would-be campers complained of lost reservations.
At the same time, the federal government is — once again — seeking a company to provide a brand-new booking system to be launched sometime after 2023.
For years, Parks Canada has been tweaking its system to better handle reservations at popular destinations — particularly Banff National Park — where demand for many campsites far outstrips supply.
Tens of thousands of would-be campers typically rush to make reservations the moment bookings open. That rush overwhelmed the online system in 2019 and then again in 2020.
A company called Camis made the software that buckled under the weight of all those eager campers.
Those problems were later alleviated by the introduction of a virtual waiting room, which assigned users a random spot in line and only allowed a certain number through at a time.
But reports of other glitches persisted, as did concerns over large-scale corporate bookings and the potential for people using automated computer scripts to gain an unfair advantage over ordinary users.
After the experience in 2020, the federal government asked five companies to bid on a contract for a brand-new booking system for Parks Canada.
In December 2020, an American firm called US eDirect was awarded an $11.2-million contract to provide a new system.
The federal government noted it had the "best overall proposal" with the "highest combined rating of technical merit and price."
The deal included a term of six years, plus an option to renew for another five years after that.
"Being selected to work with Parks Canada is an incredible honour," Tony Alex, the company's president and CEO, said at the time. "We are excited to begin this journey."
That journey ended a year and a half later, when the contract was terminated for reasons that haven't been made public.
Parks Canada wouldn't say why the contract ended, referring questions to the federal department responsible for procurement.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
Nancy Addison is still waiting for a house to come home to, one year after a wildfire raged through Jasper, Alta.
There's an app for that — even to help monitor people on bail in Ontario.
A fire at a waste facility in Wellington, P.E.I., on Saturday could have been much worse than it turned out to be.
It's been well documented by now that Canadians are drinking less than they used to, but no other province has seen a greater reduction than Alberta.
Canada's premiers are kicking off a three-day summit in Ontario's cottage country at a time of heightened anxiety over tariffs and trade with Canada's closest trading partner, the United States.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is dismissing the question of whether U.S. free trade with Canada is dead, calling the notion "silly" and saying a substantial amount of Canadian goods enter the U.S. tariff-free under the current North American free trade deal.
Howard Mah and Lori Arnason had never seen a wild grizzly until Saturday.
Police in New York state say they have found a nine-year-old Canadian girl who was reported missing in northeastern New York dead.
A 14-year-old has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a woman in a North York parking lot last Thursday, Toronto police say.
It's been a big week for Tyrelle Chadwick.
Joanne Williams estimates she's taught 2,000 people how to make bentwood boxes.
Paula Callejas, a Montreal native, was trying to expand her swimsuit business in Florida after taking time off to take care of her ailing father in Canada before his death.
Across Alberta, more people are buying new vehicles even as prices have been shooting up.