- Heritage 101
- Advocacy
- Accessibility for Historic Places
- Climate & Sustainability
- Cultural Maps
- Heritage Place Conservation
- Heritage Policy & Legislation
- Homeowners
- Intangible Cultural Heritage
- Reconciliation
- Indigenous Cultural Heritage
- Setting the Bar: A Reconciliation Guide for Heritage
- 1. Heritage and Reconciliation Pledge
- 2. Acknowledging Land and People
- 3. Celebrating Days of Recognition and Commemoration
- 4. With a Commitment to Learn
- 5. Committing to Strategic Organizational Diversity
- 6. Mission-Making Room for Reconciliation
- 7. Possession, Interpretation, Repatriation and Cultural Care
- 8. Shared Decision Making
- 9. Statements of Significance and other heritage planning documents
- 10. Heritage Conservation Tools, Local Government Act
- Racism: Do Not Let the Forgetting Prevail
- Taking Action: resources for diversity and inclusion
- Webinars On-Demand
Heritage Legislation in BC
Must Know Provincial Legislation That Governs Heritage in BC
» BC Heritage Conservation Act (HCA)
The purpose of this Act is to encourage and facilitate the protection and conservation of heritage property in British Columbia.
Please note : There has been significant feedback to the Province that updates are required for this legislation. In response, an amendment added to the act in 2019. In 2022, the HCA is currently under review through Phase 1 of the Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project. Phase 1 will serve to inform priority areas of change to align the HCA with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to transform the HCA to better meet the needs of all British Columbian (source).
» BC Local Government Act (LGA)
The purpose of this Act is to encourage and facilitate the protection and conservation of heritage property in British Columbia. Pay specific attention to part 15 : Heritage Conservation, which breaks down the different heritage planning tools available to local governments.
» Community Charter
The purpose of this Act is to provide municipalities and their councils with a legal framework for the powers, duties and functions that are necessary to fulfill their purposes, the authority and discretion to address existing and future community needs, and the flexibility to determine the public interest of their communities and to respond to the different needs and changing circumstances of their communities.
» The Vancouver Charter
The City of Vancouver, including the Vancouver Park Board, is regulated under the Vancouver Charter, a provincial statute. The Charter contains the rules that govern how the City operates, what bylaws City Council can create, and how budgets are set (source). Included in the charter is an outline for heritage conservation in Vancouver, including designation of heritage buildings and sites, and heritage revitalization agreements.
The Vancouver Charter: Section-11.5 Alternative Acceptable Solutions for Heritage Buildings Division B Part 11 is of particular note for heritage professionals across the province.