Foraging in Quebec parks: what's allowed, and where

"Am I allowed to pick here?" The question comes back every fall, and the answer often surprises people: it depends less on what you pick than on who manages the land. A "national park" can belong to the Government of Quebec, through the Sépaq, or to the Government of Canada, through Parks Canada, and the two have completely different rules. Here is what is allowed, and where, according to the regulations and official guidelines.

The short answer

Quebec national parks: berries, and nothing else

The Quebec Regulation respecting parks, which applies to Quebec's national parks, prohibits cutting, damaging or removing plants, fungi or parts of them. It makes one exception: picking edible plant products, except for commercial purposes and in preservation zones. But the same regulation also requires every visitor to follow the list of permitted activities drawn up by the park director, with their locations and periods. And it is that list that sets the real limits.

At Mont-Tremblant, Jacques-Cartier, Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie, Îles-de-Boucherville and Fjord-du-Saguenay, the list says the same thing: picking berries is allowed in the ambiance zone only, without leaving the trails and walking areas, and for personal consumption only. Activities that are not on the list are prohibited. In practice, a few raspberries or blueberries along the trail, yes. Mushrooms, plants and flowers, including fiddleheads and wild leek, no. Each park has its own list: check the one for the park you are visiting.

The regulation divides each park into five types of zones: ambiance, extreme preservation, preservation, intensive recreation and services. The ambiance zone is for discovering the landscape and natural heritage, with facilities that make it accessible, such as trails. Preservation zones are first and foremost devoted to protecting the natural environment: picking is not allowed there, and the extreme preservation zone can only be accessed in exceptional cases. If you are not sure which zone you are in, ask at the visitor centre.

Breaking the regulation can cost $125 to $3,125 under the Parks Act, and an offender can be expelled from the park. One clarification: members of an Indigenous community carrying out activities for food, ritual or social purposes are not bound by the list of activities, except in an extreme preservation zone.

Did a park employee warn you?

It has happened to plenty of people, and the employee was often right. Here are the most likely reasons:

• you were picking something other than berries: mushrooms, plants or flowers;
• you had left the trail, which the lists of activities prohibit;
• you were in a preservation zone, where picking is not allowed;
• the employee was applying the Sépaq's general rule, which prohibits removing natural elements "at all times," such as plants, dead wood or rocks. The berry exception only appears in each park's list of activities;
• you were in a national park of Canada, where picking is prohibited.

The right reflex: stop right away, then ask for the list of activities at the visitor centre. The regulation requires the park to post it at the visitor centre or another clearly visible spot, and to give a copy to anyone who asks. If you were picking berries on the trail, in the ambiance zone, the list proves you right. If not, you will know better next time.

National parks of Canada: no picking

In Quebec, Parks Canada manages La Mauricie and Forillon national parks, among others. There, the rule is simple: the National Parks General Regulations prohibit removing, defacing, damaging or destroying any flora or natural objects, except with a permit. La Mauricie reminds its visitors that picking or trampling flowers, plants, mushrooms and vegetation is not permitted, and that you must stay on the trails. At Forillon, it is prohibited to pick, mutilate or destroy any natural or cultural feature, from plant life to fossils and dead wood.

Neither the regulations nor these guidelines make an exception for berries. If you go from La Mauricie to a Sépaq park in the same week, the rules change completely, even though both are called "national parks."

Gatineau Park, wildlife areas and ecological reserves: look, don't touch

Gatineau Park is not a national park: it is managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC), a federal organization. The NCC is clear: picking is not permitted on any of the lands it manages, and breaking its regulations can cost up to $500. In the spring of 2021, it seized 7,000 wild leek bulbs that had been picked illegally in the park.

In national wildlife areas, managed by Environment and Climate Change Canada, a notice sets the activities allowed in each area. At Pointe-de-l'Est, in the Magdalen Islands, you can hike, observe nature and take photos in the designated zones, but destroying or removing a plant without a permit is prohibited.

Quebec's ecological reserves go even further. The Natural Heritage Conservation Act prohibits anyone from being in one or carrying out any activity there, except with the minister's authorization, for education, research or management. A person who enters without authorization faces a $250 administrative monetary penalty.

ZECs, wildlife reserves and public land: check with the manager

In ZECs, picking is allowed, Réseau Zec points out, as long as you do it responsibly and register at the reception post or online, which is mandatory. Avoid taking more than you will eat, and some species, such as wild leek and American ginseng, are prohibited or strictly regulated.

For wildlife reserves, outfitters and parks, the Government of Quebec refers you to the organizations that manage and regulate them: they are the ones to ask before you go. As for public land, the official page on activities allowed on public land does not address foraging. For a specific question, Quebec's Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts answers at 1-844-282-8277. One thing is certain: the rules on threatened or vulnerable plants apply everywhere, on public and private land alike.

Municipal parks and private land

In a city or regional park, the local bylaw applies, and it varies from place to place. Montréal, for example, asks people to leave flowers and plants where they are, because they feed and shelter birds and pollinating insects. It mentions the white trillium and the mayapple, a threatened species that can take several years to flower. Before picking in a park in your town, check its bylaw or ask the city.

On private land, always ask the owner's permission, even in a woodlot that looks abandoned. That is often where the best patches are, and a clear yes avoids a lot of misunderstandings.

Everywhere: protected plants

Whatever the land, some plants have their own rules. Wild leek (ail des bois) is a vulnerable species in Quebec: selling it and picking it for commercial purposes have been prohibited since 1995. For your own consumption, you can pick no more than 50 bulbs or 200 g of any part of the plant per year. In protected areas, any harvesting is prohibited. For possessing wild leek intended for sale or picked in excessive quantities, fines range from $10,000 to $6 million. And if you'd like to grow some at home, first read what the law allows for growing wild leek.

Other plants are designated as vulnerable to harvesting. For those, a person can harvest no more than five whole plants per year. Check Québec.ca before you dig up a whole plant.

Before you go: the checklist

• Who manages the land? Sépaq, Parks Canada, NCC, ZEC, city or owner: the rules change completely.
• What does the list of activities say? In a Quebec national park, ask for it at the visitor centre or look it up on the park's website.
• Stay on the trails. It is a condition for picking in Sépaq parks, and it is what protects fragile vegetation.
• Identify with certainty. When in doubt, don't pick. Several red fall berries have toxic look-alikes: our guide to red berries not to confuse helps you tell them apart. If someone swallows something, call the Centre antipoison du Québec at 1-800-463-5060.
• Pick a little. Take what you will eat, and leave the rest for the animals and other foragers.

To know what to pick and when, see our Quebec foraging calendar. This fall, mountain ash and highbush cranberry fruit is picked after the frost, and so are rose hips; those of the rugosa rose, an introduced species, can be picked with a clear conscience, where picking is permitted. And to enjoy parks without damaging them, see our tips in the importance of nature parks.

Sources

• Regulation respecting parks (CQLR, c. P-9, r. 25), LégisQuébec, 2026.
• Parks Act (CQLR, c. P-9), LégisQuébec, 2026.
• Liste des activités offertes: parc national du Mont-Tremblant (list of activities; in French), Sépaq, 2026.
• Liste des activités offertes: parc national de la Jacques-Cartier (list of activities; in French), Sépaq.
• Regulations in Quebec's national parks, Sépaq.
• National Parks General Regulations (SOR/78-213), section 10, Government of Canada, 2024.
• Visitor guidelines: La Mauricie National Park, Parks Canada, 2026.
• Regulations: Forillon National Park, Parks Canada, 2026.
• It's important to "leave what you find" in the Capital, National Capital Commission.
• Notice from Environment Canada: Pointe-de-l'Est National Wildlife Area, Environment and Climate Change Canada.
• Loi sur la conservation du patrimoine naturel (Natural Heritage Conservation Act; in French), LégisQuébec, 2026.
• Des habitats protégés au naturel: les réserves écologiques (ecological reserves; in French), Quebec environment ministry.
• Le guide de la cueillette en zec (foraging in ZECs; in French), Réseau Zec.
• Activités permises sur le territoire public (activities allowed on public land; in French), Government of Quebec, 2026.
• Autorisation pour une activité: espèces floristiques menacées ou vulnérables (in French), Government of Quebec, 2026.
• Québec veut mieux protéger l'ail des bois (in French), Office of Quebec's environment minister, 2023.
• Les bons comportements à adopter dans les parcs (in French), Ville de Montréal, 2026.