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Program Activity 1: Heritage Places Establishment
Heritage Places Establishment – Performance Indicator
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Designation of Places, Persons and Events of National Historic Significance
As of March 31, 2007, there were 157 national historic sites administered by Parks Canada. The national historic sites component of Parks Canada is responsible for Canada's program of historical commemoration, which recognizes nationally significant places, persons and events. The Minister of the Environment, on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, makes all such designations. The steps leading to ministerial designation of places, persons and events of national historic significance are shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Steps in Designation of Places, Persons and Events of National Historic Significance
| Step |
Process |
| Nominations | Parks Canada plays a role in the nomination process through the development and promotion of the National Historic Sites of Canada System Plan, as well as by publicizing theprogram of national commemoration and the role of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC). Parks Canada occasionally proposes places, persons or events for possible designation, based on its system plan framework studies. Parks Canada provides the Secretariat for the HSMBC. The Secretariat receives public inquiries about the program of historical commemoration and possible designation of a subject. |
| Screening Nominations and Preparing Submission Reports | Nominations received by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada Secretariat are reviewed and screened by a Parks Canada historian or archaeologist. The HSMBC uses criteria and guidelines to evaluate the potential national historic significance of subjects nominated for its consideration, and these are published on Parks Canada’s Web site. Some illustrative criteria include the requirement for a place to have been built prior to 1975 to be considered for designation, and that a person be deceased for at least 25 years (with the exception of Prime Ministers) prior to consideration for designation. A nomination is assumed to be acceptable unless, through screening, it can be demonstrated that it does not meet the criteria or guidelines, or that a precedent or benchmark by the HSMBC during past deliberations would make the designation unlikely. |
| Recommendations for Designations | Recommendations to the Minister of the Environment are made by the HSMBC based on submission reports, its evaluation criteria and its own expert knowledge of Canadian history. The Board meets twice a year (spring and fall) to consider submissions. It may or may not recommend designation, or may defer a recommendation by requesting supplementary information and then reconsider the submission at a later meeting. |
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada Secretariat
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