Obadjiwan–Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site of Canada Management Plan, 2026

Foreword

In Canada, the national historic sites, national parks, national marine conservation areas and national urban park administered by Parks Canada showcase and protect significant chapters of our history. They are places that unite Canadians. They weave connections between who we are, our attachment to the environment and our Canadian values.

From coast to coast to coast, Parks Canada manages a network of 225 sites. These places can be found in every province and territory in Canada—on land, on ice and at sea. As a result, Parks Canada plays a vital role in supporting local economies by boosting tourism, creating jobs and strengthening community well-being.

To the Government of Canada, the network managed by Parks Canada provides essential benefits to Canadians in support of climate action, such as conserving biodiversity, enhancing resilience to climate change and contributing to clean air and safe drinking water. Parks Canada knows that nature contributes to the health and safety of communities. For all those reasons, the federal government is committed to protecting these natural and cultural places, expanding the network of protected areas, advancing Indigenous stewardship and contributing to the recovery of species at risk.

To achieve this, Parks Canada works with Indigenous communities and key partners. Together, we protect and restore heritage places, help people connect with history and nature, and maintain the economic and social value of these places for local and regional communities. Together, we are creating a healthier, more resilient Canada for all Canadians while supporting a strong and sustainable economy.

This new management plan for Obadjiwan–Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site translates this vision into action. It reflects the tangible results of extensive consultation and a shared commitment to stewardship. As Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature, I am pleased to support this collective effort and to approve the management plan for Obadjiwan–Fort Témiscamingue National Historic Site.

Foreword by the co-presidents of the fiduciary comitee

Obadjiwan has been a gathering and collaboration place since time immemorial. It is located at a point where Lake Temiskaming narrows and is a beautiful place where you feel the history around you. The people of Timiskaming First Nation have used Obadiwan to celebrate all aspects of life from births, marriages, elections and deaths. It is a natural place for people from all walks of life to meet, trade, and collaborate.

As time progressed and more cultures and people arrived in the region, Obadjiwan remained a strategic gathering place. It became an active trading post during the fur trade eventually becoming a national historical site that recognizes the special history of the people who came to trade, to share and to live.

It is in this spirit of collaboration that we are able to present this management plan.

Obadjiwan-Fort Témiscamingue is a unique site. The site is co-owned by Parks Canada and Timiskaming First Nation. This involves a fiduciary committee. The fiduciary committee is made up of people who believe in the natural beauty of the site and its potential to be a star attraction in the region

The people who make up this committee all have different life experiences and are from the area, and we all share in the belief that Obadjiwan-Fort Témiscamingue is a special place. Since the inception of the committee, we have worked together to express what makes the site special and how to showcase that to the public. We have collaborated on this management plan in a way which we feel will allow the site to flourish and for the Canadian public to enjoy the beauty and history of Obadjiwan-Fort-Témiscamingue.

I hope you are able to see the vision we have come up with and support the management plan.

Sincerely,

Harmonizing our history and cultures for future generations

Once upon a time, more than 6,000 years ago, there was a highly symbolic place that the First Peoples occupied, visited and revered, a place to meet and gather, a unique place for exchange and sharing between communities, activities that have continued through the millennia. Once upon a time, there was Obadjiwan!

Once upon a time, almost 500 years ago, Europeans, new to the continent, associated this strategic location with fur-trading activities because of its favourable position on their difficult routes.

Once upon a time, nearly 150 years ago, this was a symbolic and strategic place where people who had come to inhabit a new territory encountered those who had occupied it for millennia. Exchanges between cultures grew more diverse, and the site became a major trading hub, marking the history of the New World and of Canada. Once upon a time, there was Fort Témiscamingue!

The meeting of these cultures in this exceptional place has truly forged not only its identity, but also the entire recent history of Témiscamingue, rooted in respect for the entire territory that bears this name given to it by the Anishnabe: Témiscamingue meaning Deep Waters in Anishinaabemowin.

Now recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada, Obadjiwan–Fort-Témiscamingue is serving as a model for society as a whole. Demonstrating unprecedented openness, Parks Canada has allowed a fiduciary committee made up of representatives of the Timiskaming community and the Témiscamingue population to collaborate and work actively to present the site and recognize and express the cultures that have brought it to life.

Not only is it about our shared history, but the work done by this fiduciary committee aims to promote harmony among nations and mutual understanding of each community’s values and roots, for the benefit of future generations.

The work leading up to this management plan was carried out in this spirit of openness, understanding and respect, and it reflects these same values we want to pass on. Because we live together on this land, we inhabit it and we respect it! Because it is our fervent wish that this symbolic and historic site remains a powerful anchor for our respective cultures, which have been intersecting and blending for so long. Because Obadjiwan–Fort-Témiscamingue can and must inspire the rest of the world for the sake of our communities.

With all my appreciation for the work done,

Recommendations

Recommended by:

Andrew Campbell
Acting President & Chief Executive Officer
Parks Canada

Jewel Cunningham
Senior Vice-President, Operations Directorate
Parks Canada

Martin Desrosiers
Field Unit Superintendent
La Mauricie and Western Québec Field Unit
Parks Canada

Alison McBride
Co-president
Fiduciary Committee

Claude Gagnon
Co-president
Fiduciary Committee