Updates to the Ontario Heritage Toolkit

The five Toolkit guides explain step-by-step how municipal councils and their associates can undertake the identification and conservation of heritage properties using powers under the Ontario Heritage Act. They also describe roles community members can play in municipal heritage conservation, as participants on municipal heritage committees, or through local research conducted by groups with an understanding of heritage.

Key users of the Ontario Heritage Tool Kit include municipal councils, municipal staff, municipal heritage committees, land use planners, heritage professionals, heritage organizations, property owners, and others seeking to understand the heritage conservation process in Ontario.

Tool Kit updates follow amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act made through the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019. The amendments were the subject of a previous consultation on the Registry [ERO 019-0021]. The ministry also posted a new draft regulation to support the amendments in Fall of 2020 [ERO 019-1348].

The Toolkit updates assist users to understand these recent changes, which come into effect as O. Reg. 385/21 on July 1, 2021.

PDFs of the guides are included in this posting. A summary of the five guides is set out below.

1. Designating Heritage Properties is a guide to municipal designation of individual properties under the Ontario Heritage Act. It includes flow charts that outline processes step-by-step.
2. Heritage Property Evaluation is a guide to listing, researching and evaluating cultural heritage property in Ontario communities.
3. Heritage Conservation Districts is a guide to designating districts, containing multiple properties, under the Ontario Heritage Act in order to conserve local character and heritage interest.
4. Your Community, Your Heritage, Your Committee is a guide to establishing and sustaining an effective Municipal Heritage Committee that provides advice to council.
5. Heritage Places of Worship is a guide to keeping heritage places of worship viable in the community while conserving their cultural heritage value or interest.