e-7594 (Culture and heritage)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• The Canadian Register of Historic Places (the Register) is the only pan-Canadian, publicly accessible record of more than 13,500 historic places recognized by federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal authorities;
• The Register is relied upon by planners, architects, developers, educators, and the public as an authoritative source of information about Canada's historic places;
• The federal government has stepped back from hosting and operating the Register, and it now faces imminent decommissioning;
• Losing the Register would fragment a nationally significant public data set, eliminate public access and search functionality, and create a lasting reputational and operational risk for the federal government;
• Canada's historic places, from Indigenous landscapes and lighthouses to the homes, workplaces and public spaces of past and future Canadians, embody our shared stories, national identity, institutions, and traditions, and deserve to be preserved for generations to come;
• The National Trust for Canada is uniquely positioned to steward the Register as Canada’s only national charity dedicated to preserving and promoting historic places; and
• A renewed Canadian Register of Historic Places could embed Canadian-based hosting and data sovereignty, accessibility to all Canadians, bilingualism and reconciliation principles.