>>608576Knives and bear spray are fine in Canadian national parks; I normally carry both.
Both fall under the possible criminal offence of "Possessing a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace." Which basically means you shouldn't be carrying them around in urban centers where you're probably just going to use them against people.
Pepper spray is a prohibited weapon anywhere in Canada, and bear spray is only considered an exception to that when possessed in circumstances that make it obvious you're using it against bears/animals and not against people. This is why when you buy bear spray in Canada you have to fill out and sign a form that says you promise not to use it on people.
Generally speaking of course the only people who ever really get charged with these types of offences are people who already have a criminal record, because the police assume criminals are just doing more criminal things.
Personally I do most of my hiking in parks because national park areas in the Canadian Rockies are badass. There are some areas that border the rockies parks that I also go to which are basically the equivalent of US national forests.
