FAQ
- What is the Historic Places Initiative?
- I know a place that should be listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places - what can I do?
- How can I find out if a place is formally recognized?
- How can I get a place officially recognized? (Some provinces/territories call this "designation")
- Who can help me with questions about maintaining or renovating my property?
- I couldn't find the place that I was searching for on the Register? Why not?
- How can I get more information?
1. What is the Historic Places Initiative?
Please refer to our About Us section to learn more about the Initiative.
2. I know a place that should be listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places - what can I do?
To be included on the Canadian Register of Historic Places, a historic place must already be formally recognized by the federal, provincial, territorial or municipal government. How can I find out if a place has been formally recognized?
Once a site has been recognized, it will eventually be included on the Register.
The Register is a work in progress and not yet complete.
3. How can I find out if a place is formally recognized?
Your provincial or territorial registrar can tell you whether the place has been formally recognized. Click here to find your local registrar.
4. How can I get a place officially recognized? (Some provinces/territories call this "designation")
Please refer to Get a Place Recognized section for more information.
5. Who can help me with questions about maintaining or renovating my property?
At this time, we are unable to provide specific conservation advice. Please refer to the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada for recommendations. We suggest you speak to a professional in your province or territory. A good place to begin your search for a qualified conservation expert is the professional association representing the expertise for which you are seeking advice (architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, archaeology, etc.) or the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants. (http://www.caphc.ca/)
Where can I get information about grants and funding?
Please refer to our Grants and Funding section for more information.
6. I couldn't find the place that I was searching for on the Register? Why not?
The place may not have been listed on the Canadian Register yet. The Canadian Register of Historic Places is a work in progress. Not all historic places in Canada can currently be found online. Eventually, the Register will contain more than 17,000 listings of Canada's recognized historic places.
Try these search tips:
- Confirm the spelling of the place.
- Try a different name. Sometimes a place is registered under a different name than the one it's commonly known by.
- Fill in fewer search boxes. The fewer fields that you complete, the more results you will get.
- Enter fewer words. If you enter more than one word, the words will need to be next to each other AND in the correct order for a result to be returned. For example, to find 'Cedar Hill School' you will need to enter 'Cedar Hill' and not 'Cedar School'.
- Type only the first few letters of a word. This will return more results. For example, searching for 'parl' will bring up 'parlour'.
- It is not possible to use wildcard symbols or Boolean logic, such as "and", "&" or "+".
7. How can I get more information?
For more information about the Historic Places Initiative, please email or telephone us at:
historicplaces@pc.gc.ca
1-866-632-6183
