While I appreciate the…

While I appreciate the intent of this legislation, its objectives must not be pursued at the expense of other societal priorities, including heritage stewardship—these are not mutually exclusive objectives. The proposed changes, as currently presented, threaten our heritage but won’t lead to more truly affordable or attainable housing.

The changes to the Ontario Heritage Act will stymie recognition of cultural diversity in Ontario. For example, the change in the “threshold” for designation, requiring that two criteria be met rather than one, will make it almost impossible to protect modest buildings and places associated with the historic contributions of Black, Indigenous, Franco-Ontarians, multicultural and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

Proposed changes also undermine the importance of the local heritage planning process by limiting the role of municipal heritage committees and placing undue pressure on municipal staff and volunteers to protect local heritage properties through municipal registers and listings. This is exacerbated by requiring municipalities to designate all listed properties within two years or drop them from the register. This is an unrealistic requirement that threatens tens of thousands of listed sites. Furthermore, property owners shouldn’t be forced to choose between listing and designation to recognize the heritage significance of their property.

Changes to the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Provincial Heritage Properties also leave provincially owned landmarks such as Ontario Place vulnerable to the whims of politicians and developers.

A more productive way to create more housing is to re-use and adapt existing older buildings. For example, converting old schools to affordable apartments or homes for seniors would take advantage of existing building stock that is already serviced and connected by transit. By upgrading and re-using our older neighbourhoods, affordable housing and heritage conservation objectives can both be realized.

Ontario’s heritage is a non-renewable resource that contributes greatly to the fabric of our society. Loss of heritage sites and older buildings threatens employment in the renovation and tourism sectors and contributes to climate change through release of stored carbon. A housing strategy that approaches heritage conservation and development as complementary rather than opposing objectives would yield much greater benefits overall.