If your property is listed in St. Catharines' Heritage Inventory, you may have to apply for a Heritage Permit if you're making changes to the property. There is also a Heritage Designated Property Grant to help you preserve heritage elements.
Heritage properties
We designate properties that have historical significance as per the Ontario Heritage Act. We list non-designated properties that have cultural heritage value or interest on our Municipal Heritage Register as well.
You can view our:
- List of All Designated Heritage Properties
- Selected Profiles of Designated Heritage Properties
- Register of Non-Designated Cultural Heritage Properties
- List of Significant Local Individuals
Please note
You must give Council at least 60 days' notice if you're going to demolish or remove a building or structure on the property, which allows for a designation process to protect the property if the property is found to meet the requirements for Heritage Designation under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Heritage priority rating |
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Our heritage rating system assesses and prioritizes properties based on historical, architectural, and contextual criteria. Priority 1 heritage resources have major significance, and the Heritage Advisory Committee will actively pursue designation. While a Priority 2 heritage resource is of less significance, both can be designated. |
How do I apply for heritage designation? |
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Please complete our Heritage Designation Application and send to the Heritage Advisory Committee through Planning and Building Services. The designation process takes approximately three to four months. The Heritage Advisory Committee will evaluate your request based on a Rating System for Built Heritage Resources and make recommendations. If warranted, Planning and Building Services prepares a report to Council and if they approve based on the recommendations from the report, we publish a Notice of Intent to Designate in the newspaper (St. Catharines Standard) and on our website. We serve the notice to the property owner and the Ontario Heritage Trust. If no notices of objection to the designation are filed with the City Clerk after 30 days, Council passes a by-law designating the property. We then publish a Notice of Passing of the By-law in the newspaper and on our website. We serve the notice to the property owner and Ontario Heritage Trust. The by-law will then take effect. |
Heritage Conservation Districts |
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A Heritage Conservation District (HCD) is a collection of buildings, streets and open spaces that has a special character of historical association. Through studies, we define areas to be designated and create policies to guide future change through District Plans. We encourage changes that are consistent with the goals and objectives of each HCD's study. Since 1976, we have designated Five Heritage Conservation Districts in St. Catharines:
Power Glen Heritage Conservation District: Port Dalhousie Heritage Conservation District:
Port Dalhousie Commercial Core and Harbour Area Heritage Conservation District Yates Street Heritage Conservation District: Queen Street Heritage Conservation District: |