Free Canada Parks Discovery Pass timeline

In 2012 for a couple of months in Atlantic Canada, I bought the passes (and they weren't cheap even at a senior rate). If I remember right, it was a sturdy pass with a cut-out so you could hang it from your windshield rear view mirror or place it to be visible on the dash, and then they would wave us through the entry gate.

I recall when we went to the Fortress of Louisbourg, we also got waved past a long line of people in the visitor center waiting to buy admission passes.

I did the math and buying the passes did save us money vs individual admissions. But free is even better.