Built Heritage Inventory Review

The Ontario Heritage Act has had significant changes made to it under Bill 23, including the requirement that any property listed on a Municipal Heritage Register be listed for a maximum of two years. After the two year timeline has finished, the property will automatically be removed. The Town of Whitchuch-Stouffville currently has approximately 650 properties that are listed on its Municipal Heritage Register, known as the Built Heritage Inventory. The two year timeline for these currently listed properties began on January 1, 2023 and will finish on January 1, 2025, at which point all of the currently listed properties will be automatically be removed, and the protections afforded to them through listing will also be removed. The properties currently listed on the Built Heritage Inventory can be found here.

What can be done?

Staff have begun a project to review the 650 listed properties on the Built Heritage Inventory to identify properties that warrant further protection under the Ontario Heritage Act. Properties that are significant to the heritage of the Town can be designated under the Heritage Act if they meet any two of the following nine criteria:

1. The property has design value or physical value because it is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material or construction method.

2. The property has design value or physical value because it displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit.

3. The property has design value or physical value because it demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement.

4. The property has historical or associative value because it directly relates to a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community.

5. The property has historical value or associative value because it yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture.

6. The property has historical value or associative value because it demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community.

7. The property has contextual value because it is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area.

8. The property has contextual value because it is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings.

9. The property has contextual value because it is a landmark. O. Reg. 569/22, s. 1.

Designated properties have the key features for their designation identified and protected so that they may be experienced by future generations. The Town currently has ten designated properties, which can be found here.

If your property is listed on the Built Heritage Inventory and you believe that your property may possess significance to the heritage of the Town, you may recommend it for designation with the below survey.