Municipal Heritage Register

With adequate notice and subject to any applicable costs (e.g., fee for photocopying), excerpts from the Municipal Heritage Register and any of the designation by-laws for individual properties or heritage conservation districts may be requested through the Planning and Economic Development Department.

A property may be identified as being of cultural heritage value or interest and recommended for listing on the Register as part of a development application process, the City’s proactive Built Heritage Inventory Strategy or other planning-related initiatives, or resulting from a request for listing made by an owner, Council, the Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee or a third-party.

 Consultation with the Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee and a Council resolution is required to list, or remove, a property on the Register.

• Listing on the Register is not the same as heritage designation. Listed properties are not subject to Heritage Permits.
• Listing does not legally restrict the permitted zoning use of a property.
• Listing should not impact your insurance rates or coverage.
• Listing has not been demonstrated to impact property or resale values (see Report PED20030).
• Listing does not prevent interior or exterior alterations or changes to a property, including additions, as part of the Building Permit process.
• Listing does not prevent demolition but does provide interim 60-day protection from demolition by requiring owners to give the City notice of their intention to demolish (see below).

An owner of a listed property is required to give 60-days notice to the City of their intention to demolish or remove a building or structure on their property, as per Section 27(9) of the Ontario Heritage Act. The demolition or removal of any building or structure on the property is prohibited during this time period.

The Ontario Heritage Act allows Council to require necessary plans or information be submitted with an owner’s notice of intention to demolish. Council currently requires any notice of intention to demolish a listed property also on the City’s designation work plan include a Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment report, prepared to the satisfaction and approval of the Director of Planning and Chief Planner.

The required notice is separate from the submission of a Building Permit application to demolish and can be provided to Council by way of Cultural Heritage Planning staff in the Planning Division. Please contact staff at [email protected] for more information and to confirm what is required to accompany the notice submission to staff.​​

The 60-day interim period is intended to allow staff time to discuss alternatives for conservation of a property with the owner, including opportunities for retention, adaptive re-use and financial incentives, and photo-documentation of the property prior to demolition. In the case of significant heritage properties, like those identified as candidates for designation and listed on staff’s designation work plan, the 60-day delay could allow Council time to consider issuing a notice of intention to designate the property to prevent demolition.

Under Section 27(7) of the Ontario Heritage Act, an owner can object to a non-designated property being included on the Register after receiving notice of it being listed. The owner’s objection should identify the reasons for the objection and all relevant facts. The Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee is required to be consulted prior to removing a property from the Register. Council must consider the objection and decide whether to keep the property listed on the Register or to remove it. The owner must be given notice of a council’s decision on the consideration of their objection within 90-days of the decision.

To warrant removal from the Register, it should be demonstrated that the property no longer retains any tangible cultural heritage value or interest as per Ontario Regulation 9/06.  This provincial regulation sets out the criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest based on three categories: design or physical value; historical or associative value; and, contextual value.

If alteration or demolition of a listed property is proposed as part of a development application under the Planning Act, staff may require that a Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment be completed in support of the application in order to confirm the cultural heritage value or interest of the property, assess the impact of the proposed demolition and explore alternatives for conservation.