Since rolling out Easy Appointment Booking, the National Capital Commission (NCC) has:
Every day, the National Capital Commission (NCC) works to build an inspiring capital that all Canadians can be proud of. As a steward of national public places like Gatineau Park, the NCC manages some of the most iconic spaces in the country.
One of their flagship programs are nature hikes, presentations, and activities for school field trips. Schools would book field trips for their classrooms to visit Gatineau Park, but this came with one big challenge: making them accessible to everyone. For families, teachers, and visitors, the booking process needed to be as welcoming as the experiences themselves.
Paul, who is part of the Business Systems team with NCC, led this project. Building a bilingual booking system was daunting and finding a lightweight but reliable booking application wouldn't quite fit the bill with IT security. Luckily, NCC was already on Shopify and they were closer than they thought to a fully compliant and bilingual booking solution. In 2024, the NCC turned to Easy Appointment Booking to modernize how young Canadians in school connect with nature in the nation's capital.
Different groups, different needs
From school classes booking guided tours to families signing up for seasonal skating, no two programs looked the same. Other platforms struggled to handle recurring events, variable capacities, and multi-staff schedules.
Reliability and trust
As a government organization, NCC programs needed a booking tool that worked every time within acceptable policies. Having a bilingual booking process with data retention policies (in line with Shopify) were deal breakers for NCC.
Time-consuming admin
Staff were spending hours chasing confirmations and managing spreadsheets. Less time on logistics meant more time for programming.
“We wanted a solution that was simple for schools and families, but also reliable enough for our internal processes. They offered flexible deployment options, was a bilingual solution that was layered on top Shopify - which had already been approved by IT Security” - Paul Dombowsky, Business Systems Analyst at NCC
Easy Appointment Booking gave the NCC:
“Easy Appointments allowed the NCC to quickly roll out school booking tours for Gatineau Park without having to develop a custom solution. This program was very cumbersome to manage in the past. Now the program has grown considerably. It’s made the booking process much easier for schools and families to participate in NCC initiatives.” Paul Dombowsky, Business Systems Analyst at NCC
With the system in place, the NCC team is exploring even more ways to use Easy Appointment Booking across its diverse portfolio, from nature tours to outdoor recreation. They recently launched a scavenger hunt activity at Mackenzie King Estate.
The goal: keep public programs welcoming, reliable, and easy to access. Because in Canada’s Capital, the story of our nature and spaces is best told when everyone can take part.
