Learn

Saving a building, step by step

Plain-language guides for volunteers, historical societies and heritage committees in Ontario. Facts checked against ontario.ca and municipal sources; this is not legal advice.

Research a building

Check it isn't already taken. Look at the volunteer watchlist and any heritage group working on your area. In Toronto, email heritagesurvey@toronto.ca first.
Start a research record from the building's page. What the register already says is filled in, with its source.
Work through the research checklist: land registry, assessment rolls, directories, fire insurance plans, maps, newspapers, photographs and the local archives. Note what each source turned up, or that it had nothing.
Look at it from the sidewalk. Photograph each visible side, the details and the street. Never go onto private property without the owner's permission, and don't photograph people.
Write it up: a description, a dated history with a source for each fact, and why it matters.
Send it with the request letter the record builder drafts, to the municipality's heritage planners.

The nine criteria (Ontario Regulation 9/06)

Council can designate a property that meets two or more of these. Your research should show which, with evidence.

It is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material or construction method. (Design or physical value)
A style or building type that's rare or early in your area, an unusual material or method, or a textbook example of a style. Compare with other buildings nearby.
It displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit. (Design or physical value)
Fine brickwork, carving, ironwork, stained glass, decorative woodwork: details a skilled maker put there on purpose.
It demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement. (Design or physical value)
An engineering first, an unusual structure or a technical innovation for its time.
It has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community. (Historical or associative value)
A link to a person, family, business, event, faith group or organization that matters to the community. Directories, newspapers and assessment rolls show who.
It yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture. (Historical or associative value)
The building can teach something about how people lived or worked: an early factory, a workers' cottage, a corner store.
It demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community. (Historical or associative value)
A known architect, builder or designer, especially one whose work matters locally. The Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada is the place to start.
It is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area. (Contextual value)
It helps give the street or area its character: same era, scale and materials as its neighbours.
It is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings. (Contextual value)
It's tied to its surroundings: a mill by a river, a station by the tracks, a house that faces a village green.
It is a landmark. (Contextual value)
People use it to give directions; it's visible from far away or a local reference point.

How designation works

Request and research. Anyone can ask the municipality to consider designating a property. Heritage staff research and evaluate it against the criteria.
Heritage committee and council. Staff report to the municipal heritage committee (where there is one), then council decides whether to issue a notice of intention to designate.
Notice and objections. The notice is served on the owner and published. Anyone may object to the clerk within 30 days of publication. If someone objects, council must consider it and decide within 90 days whether to withdraw the notice.
By-law. Council must pass the designating by-law within 120 days of publishing the notice, or the notice is deemed withdrawn.
Appeal. Anyone who objects to the by-law may appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal within 30 days of the notice that it was passed. The Tribunal's decision is final.

For listed properties, the notice of intention is what matters before January 1, 2027: a property with a live notice stays on the register. See what January 1 means.

Speak at council (a deputation)

Find the meeting. Heritage items go to the heritage committee, then a planning committee, then council. Upcoming meetings are on each municipality's page here and on the building's campaign page.
Register in advance. Most municipalities ask you to register with the clerk by a deadline before the meeting (often noon a day or two before). The meeting page or the clerk's office says how; many eSCRIBE calendars have a “request to speak” link.
Keep to time. Deputations are usually about five minutes. Say who you are and where you live, which building, what's at stake (the January 1 deadline, a development application), and exactly what you ask council to do.
Can't attend? Send a written comment to the clerk before the meeting; it becomes part of the public record. A letter to your councillor helps too.
Bring others. Several short deputations, and the number of people who support designating the building, show council the community cares. Share the building's campaign page to gather support.

Objections and appeals

When an owner objects to a notice, or appeals a designation by-law, the public can still take part.

An objection to a notice goes back to council within 90 days. Write to council or ask to speak in support of the designation; bring your research.
An appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal follows the passing of the by-law. You can ask the Tribunal for participant status (a written statement) or party status (evidence, witnesses, questioning). File the request form with the Tribunal and the parties at least 10 days before the first hearing event, usually a case management conference. Forms: Ontario Land Tribunal forms.
Tell the municipality you support the designation and offer your research; staff and the municipality's lawyers defend the by-law at the Tribunal.

We flag objections and appeals that appear on council agendas on each building's page, and email people watching it.

When a development application is filed

If an application for an official plan amendment, a zoning by-law amendment or a plan of subdivision is filed for a property, council can only designate it if it was already on the register when the application was filed, and must issue the notice of intention within 90 days of the municipality's notice that the application is complete. Buildings with a new application are the most urgent: the priority score and the watchlist flag them.

Sources: Ontario Heritage Toolkit, the designation process; Ontario Regulation 9/06; the Ontario Land Tribunal's hearings guide. Not legal advice; for a specific case, ask the municipality or a lawyer.